Liane Langford and the Next Generation of Hogwarts
by xzienne
Summary: In 2017, Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy went to Hogwarts. At the same time, though, another young girl was starting her magical education; a young girl who even amongst the most talented year level in decades, is particularly powerful. Oh, and the newest Heir of Slytherin. We might have led with that.
1. Chapter 1: Secret of the Squib

Chapter 1: The Secret of the Squib

Mr and Mrs Kyle and Harriet Langford of number 17 Elm Square, Chester, were perfectly normal people, at least as far as their neighbours were concerned. Mr Langford left the house every weekday at eight thirty in the morning to drive to his job as a history and sociology teacher at a nearby secondary school, and arrived home at five forty-five every evening. Mrs Langford taught piano and singing, and the two of them together raised their young daughter, Liane.

Liane Langford, age ten and eleven months, was tall for her age, and her dirty-blonde hair spent most of its time braided. Where casual acquaintances remarked upon her as a quiet, polite and soft-spoken child, her friends and parents knew her to be a voracious reader and keen intellect, stubborn and outspoken, rarely budging from a position when she held it until shown irrefutable proof that she was wrong. Those that saw both sides of her would marvel at how swiftly she could transform from the angelic child in public to the sharp-tongued wit in private.

Things amongst the Langford's home were peaceful and unexciting, for the most part, and yet Harriet Langford looked at Liane's upcoming eleventh birthday with increasing trepidation. This is because, unbeknownst to her husband or her daughter, Harriet Langford was a squib.

A squib is a person born to a wizard and a witch who is unable to perform magic on their own. With Kyle Langford a Muggle, a more general term for people without magic, and unaware of Harriet's magical parentage, magic was never spoken of in the Langford household except in terms of the realms of fantasy fiction. When Liane proved to be very adept at writing fantasy herself, and very critical of the mountains of fantasy stories she read, it became increasingly clear to Harriet that, although it may have skipped a generation, there was magic in her daughter's blood. Perhaps even enough for her to be offered a place at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, where her parents had met.

Tradition dictated that the letters were to arrive for prospective first year students some time leading up to their eleventh birthday, provided it fell before September first in the year, or else in May for students who turned eleven during the school term. As Liane's birthday was August 20th, she had scarcely more than a week before school started, and Harriet did not know whether she ought to tell her daughter of the possibility of a magical school enrollment before the letter arrived or risk waiting until the last minute. If she did not wait, and Liane was not accepted, Harriet believed it would break her daughter's heart.

Liane stood in front of her mirror, staring at her fringe. It was too long, and fell over her eyes no matter what she did with it; somehow no pin or clip would hold it in place, and no gel or hairspray would mold the errant strands into place. In one hand she held a pair of kitchen shears, determined to rid herself of the constant twitching she had been forced to endure while her hair had insisted on obscuring her vision. If it came down to it, she would cut it all off. As she raised the scissors up towards her face, however, a deep, booming bark made her jump.

"Rollo!" she chastised, turning to her tibetan mastiff, his big, furry head poking through her door. Despite almost being as tall as she was, the massive hound looked up at her and whimpered.

"Oh, don't give me that," she scolded, "I could have really hurt myself."

Rollo answered by pushing the door open entirely and rolling onto his back, his tongue hanging from the side of his maw and lolling about as he panted expectantly. Liane rolled her eyes and put the scissors down on the dresser, walking over to the dog and scratching his belly, digging her fingers in as hard as she could. Rollo wriggled around blissfully for a moment before twisting back around onto his front, looking up at Liane and wagging his tail.

"Oh, come on then; breakfast it is then," she said, stepping around Rollo as he leapt excitedly to his feet.

Together they made their way down into the kitchen. Liane kissed her father's cheek hello as she made her way over to the kitchen, grabbing a box of cereal from the cupboard.

"I think your mother had something special planned," Kyle said over the top of the morning paper. Liane looked up confused for a moment.

"Oh," she said as she realised what day it was. She was eleven years old, and she'd forgotten about it entirely somehow. Putting the cereal box back in the cupboard Liane wandered over to the box of dry dog biscuits and poured some in a bowl for Rollo, then made her way back to the table and sat down.

As she did so, Harriet appeared coming from the stairs leading down into the basement, in her hands clasped a box of frozen blueberries and a box of frozen raspberries.

"Morning, birthday girl," Harriet said, bending down to plant a quick kiss on Liane's head on her way past.

"Morning. What's with the berries?" Liane asked, rising up in her seat to tuck her legs in underneath her.

"I was going to turn them into a mixed berry compote to have with pancakes; how does that sound?" Harriet said, depositing the boxes on the bench and bending down to retrieve a saucepan from the cupboard beneath the benchtop.

Liane shrugged.

"Sounds great, thanks," she said, her eyes following her mother. Liane had noticed Harriet had been behaving oddly over the last few months, nervous and worried about something Liane couldn't quite work out. Whatever was the problem, it clearly wasn't something that was also affecting her father, however, as he seemed utterly indifferent to the change in behaviour.

"Why don't you go and check the mail, love?" Kyle said as he turned a page of the paper, "your Auntie Rita might have sent you a card."

Liane nodded and bounced off her chair, missing the nervous glance Harriet gave to her oblivious husband. Sure enough, there was a small pile of envelopes at the foot of the door, beneath the slot. Liane picked up the bundle and shuffled them into a slightly neater pile as she walked back into the kitchen.

"Two for you, dad, one for me, looks like you were right about Auntie Rita, mum, mum, and…" Liane stopped, looking at the brown paper envelope she held in her hand. There, in emerald green writing that seemed to shine, were the words;

 _Ms. Liane Amelia Langford, second bedroom, upstairs, 17 Elm Square, Chester, England, UK._

"What's that love?" Kyle asked, his eyes not leaving the paper.

"It's a letter, for me," Liane said in a small voice, not seeing the almost guilty look on her mother's face as she turned it over to see the envelope was sealed with a wax blob marked with a crest stamp, bearing four quadrants, each with their own animal sigil. Tucking her thumbnail under the wax seal it came away in one piece, and Liane slowly pulled out the letter, which had come on two pieces of paper. The second piece looked like a list of some kind, and so Liane ignored it for the moment, reading over the first page.

 _Dear Ms. Liane Amelia Langford,_

 _We apologise for the delay in getting your letter to you, however as I'm sure you are aware there have been difficulties in maintaining records relevant to the turn of the century._

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, beginning term September 1st. Attached you will find a list of your required school books and materials, which can be purchased from Diagon Alley or other magical suppliers. We also remind you at this time that prior to the beginning of term you are to perform no magic, as per the Ministry of Magic's regulations on underage magic. The Hogwarts Express departs from Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station in London at 11:00 AM precisely on the first._

 _We look forward to seeing you in September._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Deputy Headmaster Neville Longbottom_

 _Headmistress Minerva McGonagall_

"It's nothing, Dad, some kind of weird joke. I bet Penelope's behind it; she's always poking fun at me for liking fantasy books," Liane said, tossing the letter aside. As she went to reach for the other envelope from her aunt, Liane stopped suddenly, startled by the sound of a metal mixing bowl hitting the tiles in the kitchen. She looked over to her mother, who was shaking, gripping the bench in front of her.

"Mum? What's wrong?" Liane asked.

"I… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… I should have told you sooner," Harriet muttered, and Liane's eyes widened.

"Darling?" Kyle said, standing up. Harriet looked over at them both.

"I'm… I'm sorry… But, Liane sweetie, it's… It's true. All of it… It's real, it's for real…" Harriet stammered. Liane stepped away from the table, staring at the letter as though it had abruptly come to life. Which, if she believed what her mother was telling her, it might.

Kyle grabbed the letter and scanned over it, his brow furrowing.

"Uh, darling I think you might be confused, there's _no way_ this could be-" he began, but Harriet had already pulled her phone from her pocket and was sending an sms message. When she was done she put the phone down and stepped away from it, looking at the small iphone in much the same way Liane was looking at the letter. There was an abrupt crack, and Rollo started barking, mimicking the confusion and alarm Liane and Kyle were both experiencing. There, suddenly standing among them, was Harriet's cousin and Liane's occasional babysitter, Susan Bones. Although unlike every other time Liane had seen her, she was dressed in flowing black robes and carried a long, carved piece of wood in her hand.

"Harriet, what's going on? You said it was an emergency?" Susan said in a low, authoritative voice, before she realised Kyle and Liane were looking at her.

"Oh," she said as she noticed them both, deflating.

"Oh?" Liane said dryly at the same time Kyle let out a bellowing "what the bloody-"

"You told them?" Susan said, turning to Harriet. Harriet nodded.

"Liane's letter arrived," she replied. Susan's face broke into a wide, ecstatic grin.

"Oh! Oh, Harriet that's wonderful; you weren't sure she'd even be considered, and she's been accepted!" Susan said, placing her wand into the sleeve of her robes and turning to face Liane

"Been accepted? Accepted into what? Harriet what the hell is going on?" Kyle erupted, his eyes wide.

"Another witch in the family; well, this is cause for a celebration. Er," Susan said, spotting the spilled bowl of pancake mix on the floor, "let's just clean that up shall we." With a flourish the wand returned to her hand, and the bowl lifted back into the air and onto the bench.

" _Scourgify_ ," Susan said, and with an oddly satisfying _slurp_ the pancake mix all disappeared, and more flour and eggs floated over to replace the mix.

"Okay," Liane said, sitting back in her chair, "could someone, please, explain to me what on earth is going on?" she asked.

"Well, if it's alright with you, I think this is probably more my field," Susan said, gesturing to Harriet, who nodded. Susan sat down opposite Liane and smiled.

"You know your grandmother and my mother were sisters? Well, both of them were witches, and I am one as well. A witch isn't a bad thing like in books; it simply means a female-identifying person who can perform magic. People who identify as male generally go by wizards, and agender and non-binary people are usually just called magus or magi, although that's pretty recent in the scheme of things. There's a school, somewhere up in Scotland, called Hogwarts, and it's the best school for magic in the entire United Kingdom. Most of the magical children in the UK attend there, although there's also Myrddin's Public Academy in Manchester. At Hogwarts you'll learn all sorts of amazing things about magic, how to cast it and how to work in the magical world," Susan explained, before drawing her wand out again.

"Wands are the most common way witches, wizards and magi cast spells; it carries a small amount of magic within it and it bonds to the user, making spells easier to cast and more effective. And, with study and practise, you can do just about anything," she explained, before pointing her wand at the letter in front of Kyle.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," she said with a swish and a flick of the wand, and the piece of paper lifted up off the table and floated over to Liane.

Liane picked up the letter and read through it all again.

"So… I'm a, a witch? And I can do magic, if I go to a special school in Scotland to learn how?" she said haltingly, "and I can buy all this junk in London?" she said, holding up the letter, listing off items such as "a small pewter cauldron" and "robes, black".

"Oh! Yes, oh Harriet you have to let me take her to Diagon Alley; I can take the day off and show her around and everything!" Susan said, turning to Harriet, who shrugged.

"I suppose so; I've never been, so it would be better for you to come along if she has any questions or anything," she said. Kyle gaped, everything flying passed him far too fast.

"And how many pounds is it going to cost, some special school up in Scotland?" he asked. Susan waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh, the wizarding world doesn't use sterling, but it's fine; the Ministry salary is more than enough for me and she's practically a Bones anyway, we can pay for tuition and books and stuff out of the family vault. There'll be plenty of time to talk all about it when we go to Diagon Alley. Meanwhile, I'm actually running late for work; I'll be back around tonight if that's okay?" Susan said, standing up. Harriet nodded, and Susan smiled and nodded back in return. Turning back to Liane, Susan rushed around the table, leaned down and gave her a tight hug.

"I'm so happy for you, Liane; you will love it at Hogwarts, I know you will. I'll send an owl to Neville as soon as I can to let him know you're accepting," she said, before standing back up straight and vanishing with another loud crack.

The remainder of the birthday did not go entirely as planned. While Kyle and Harriet attempted to make the day special for Liane, they were clearly on edge. When they thought she couldn't hear, harsh, whispered comments were passed back and forth, with Harriet attempting to explain why she had covered up the truth for so long and Kyle trying to understand. Thankfully Liane was going to be spending that afternoon with her friends Lisa Pritchard, Penelope Folke, and Mitchell and Cassandra Monroe at the movies, although when the movie finally came to an end Liane wasn't sure she could remember any of it, her mind too busy turning over the news.

 _Magic,_ she almost wanted to laugh, and had she not seen it with her own eyes she might well have done so. When the five of them went out to pizza for a late lunch, Cassandra sat down next to Liane while the others went to the all-you-can-eat buffet tables to load their plates down with food.

"What's up, birthday girl? You've been distant all day," she said, nudging Liane.

"Oh, sorry. It's… It's nothing, really. I just got some… interesting mail today, that's all," Liane said, shrugging in a way that she hoped appeared casual. She was stunned then when Cassandra turned in towards her, dropped her voice down low and said,

"So you got yours too, then? The acceptance letter?"

Liane's eyes widened and her brow went rigid as she turned and stared intensely at her friend.

"What?" she said in a low voice.

"Hogwarts," Cassandra replied, "Mitchell and I got ours in May, cos we turned eleven last year."

" _And you didn't tell me?!_ " Liane growled, and Cassandra grinned.

"We didn't know if you'd get one; your mum recognised our folks as a witch and wizard as soon as she met them, she made them and us promise not to say anything. She didn't want to get your hopes up in case you weren't accepted. Plus, we're sort of, not really allowed to tell non-magic people unless they have a magical family member or spouse," Cassandra explained. Liane leaned back against the wall of the booth and crossed her armed.

"Still, I'm not happy. All those times Penny poked fun at me for liking fantasy and magic and you two were sitting there knowing you were only a few years off getting your own wands. You could have at least stood up for me," Liane pouted. Cassandra shrugged.

"We didn't want to run the risk of slipping up and letting something out. But come on, Li, this is such good news! You'll be with us at Hogwarts; we can show you around, practise spells, sit together, it will be fantastic! I don't know what house I'll be in, but I hope it's Gryff-"

"What's up, nerds?" Penelope said with a mock sneer as she sat down, sliding down the booth to let Lisa and Mitchell in.

"Nothing; I was just telling Cassie about the new sketching pencil set Dad gave me this morning. Pass us some pizza," Liane said, flashing a smile at Penelope and reaching for a slice.


	2. Chapter 2: Familiar Encounters

Chapter 2: Familiar Encounters in Diagon Alley

Susan, Harriet, Kyle and Liane travelled from Chester to London the next day, along with Liane's booklist. When they arrived, Susan led them down high street.

"Come on, it's not too far from here," Susan said as she wove in and out through the crowds. Liane looked nervously around at all the people, concerned that there was apparently an entrance to a street that sold all manner of magical paraphernalia just out in the open.

Following down the street, Liane kept looking out for signs that wizarding materials were being sold. She wasn't sure what to expect, but she didn't think things like real magic wands and cauldrons would be sold in shops nestled between the sports supplier and the fashion boutiques.

Instead of any of those, however, Susan stopped outside of a bright, glass fronted building, many couches and potted plants visible inside.

"This is the entrance to Diagon Alley?" Kyle asked, looking at the building, "it looks like a real estate agent."

"To the muggles, it is. Looks can be deceiving," Susan said with a smile, pushing the door open.

"Alright, Larry? Just passing through today; I'm helping Liane get her stuff for school," she said, and the man behind the counter nodded.

"There's been a few through today; so many are leaving their shopping for the last minute. You'd best get straight to Gringotts, as I suspect there'll be a bit of a wait. I saw the Potters and the Weasleys through only an hour ago, so there'll be crowds I'll wager," Larry said.

"Oh, that should be okay; Harry and Ron are both at DMLE, so I'm sure they'll be happy to see us. Come on, Liane; we're through here," Susan said, pointing to a door leading out to a room at the back of the building.

Out the back of the office, Liane, Harriet and Kyle stood and watched in awestruck wonder at the room beyond. The doors led out onto a mezzanine level, a set of stairs leading down off the balcony to a busy floor below, dominated by a stained glass window that flooded the area with coloured lights. As Liane looked, she noticed the lights actually were drifting across the floor, following the swirling of the panels of coloured glass that moved across one another on their own.

"Diagon Alley; come on, Liane, we'd better get a move on," Susan said, stepping passed Liane down the stairs.

"We're going to follow Larry's advice, I think, and head to Gringotts first," Susan said as Liane and her parents caught up with her, "it's the wizarding bank. I can arrange for your school fees to be paid for while we're there. Come on; you'll enjoy it, it's run by goblins!"

"Goblins? I can accept magic is real, but Goblins?" Liane asked, incredulous.

"Oh, sure; the magical world is more than just the witches, wizards and magi casting spells. If it's found its way into muggle fantasy, you can be pretty sure it began with a Ministry Department of Magical Creatures control officer failing to do their job correctly. Goblins, werewolves, dragons; it really is a whole other world, Liane, and you've got your ticket to see it," Susan said, looking down and beaming. Liane smiled in return, but her mind was racing.

 _How is that even possible? Sure, there must have been a number of norm-Muggles, who saw dragons and goblins and things and that's why we know about them, but to hide the fact that they're real from the whole world? How can even magic do that; especially if the population of magic users is so low only one or two schools can cater for all of magical Britain?_

"I'm not sure it's very fair, expecting you to cover the costs of everything," Harriet said to Susan as they made their way out.

Transfers between wizarding and muggle money is pretty steep, so you may not be terribly upset. Besides, last name notwithstanding, Liane is a Bones; she deserves access to the family vault, as with all the other conditions of being part of a Most Ancient and Noble House," Susan explained.

"And what does that mean exactly?" Kyle asked.

"Well, if we can get her officially recognised as such, it means a couple of things. Recognition from the Wizengamot as well, for a start," Susan said.

"So she's not actually considered a member of the house?" Harriet asked.

"As a second-cousin, unfortunately, no. But the Bones line ends with me, unfortunately, and Aurors make bad wives. Liane might be the only chance for the continuation of our family line."

Gringotts was a tall, white-marble-fronted building topped with a dome of gold and glass. Liane looked up at the glittering dome and narrowed her eyes; clearly there was magic protecting Diagon Alley from view even beyond the entrance behind high street, as a building like that in downtown London would be immediately noticeable from the streets all around. More and more she was beginning to see how powerful magic was; not merely tricks like levitation or instant cleaning or even teleportation, but the ability to warp space and hide from view in plain sight. She almost expected them to be able to time-travel as well, if the thought was not so absurd as to make her nearly laugh.

As they entered through the gilded front doors, Liane was surprised to find that the main room was so dark. Looking up, she saw the underside of the dome was high, far higher than it had appeared from the outside, and the light being let in only dimly lit the cavernous room. Down the length of the marble floored chamber stood six rows of desks; the two in the middle were higher and were manned—goblinned?—by very officious-looking creatures with small, dark eyes, long, pointed noses and ears, and dressed in suits of black velvet. The two rows of desks behind each of the two rows in the middle were lower, and very few seemed to be serving customers. The high rows in the middle, however, had a line of people out front of every one, as people presented keys and wands and were led away by small goblins constantly flitting in and out of the room through the many doors at the back of the room. At the end of the middle aisle, at a high desk towering over even all the others, sat a very stern looking goblin, white-haired and ancient, facing the main doors Liane now stood in front of.

"Come on, that line's not too long," Susan said, leading Liane over to one desk mid-way down the room.

A short time later, they had made their way to the front, and Liane could finally see the name on the front of the desk, identifying the goblin as being named Spearhook.

"Miss Susan Amelia Bones, looking to access vault 551, along with her cousin, who is to be issued with a key to the same. Also, I'd like to organise a regular payment to Hogwarts from the vault for the next seven years," Susan said, pulling out her key and presenting it to Spearhook.

"You know the regulations, Inspector Bones; duplicate keys and regular payment plans require identification via wand," Spearhook replied. Susan nodded and raised her hand, holding the wand with the tip pointed down and away from the goblin. Spearhook reached out and tapped the end of the wand with his finger, producing a small shower of silver sparks.

"Hmm, this all seems to be in order. Barkin will show you to the vault while I organise for the duplicate key, the muggles will be required to sign the ledger and wait over there," he said, pointing lazily to a small seating area off to the side. "When you return the key and the papers for the Hogwarts transfers will be ready for you," Spearhook said, as another goblin appeared beside the desk.

"We're not going with you?" Harriet asked, sounding nervous.

"Sorry, Harriet," Susan said, "not this time. First time muggles to Gringotts need to go through orientation."

"Orientation for what?" Kyle asked, skeptically.

"Muggle money transfers, vault access and other assorted financials," Spearhook said lazily, his finger pointed once more in the direction of the waiting area. As Harriet and Kyle moved off, Susan turned to the other goblin waiting by the desk.

"Barkin, I presume," Susan said, sheathing her wand once more up her sleeve. The goblin nodded, and gestured for the two of them to follow as he led them both to a door at the rear of the room.

"So you're giving me a key to your bank account?" Liane asked as they followed Barkin to a waiting rail cart.

"Eventually; it's more a formality for the moment. You won't officially be able to access the account on your own for a couple of years, until then your mum will hold on to it. I have a personal account separate from the Bones family account, and at some point you will be able to open your own as well. But for this year and the next few, you can come here with a parent and take out enough to cover yourself for school materials, essentials and a few luxuries. Speaking of which, pass me your list; we should know how much we need," Susan said, and Liane dutifully pulled the folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it over.

The rail car took them deep underground, and Liane noticed that every so often they would pass a vault guarded by large, hulking creatures dressed in fitted pieces of shiny black armour. Each one carried a halberd and glared at the rail cars with beady, piercing black eyes.

"What are those?" Liane asked.

"The ministry overhauled the Gringotts security after the war, and Hermione Granger-Weasley enforced a Protection of Magical Creatures bill that meant that dragons could not be kept underground. So instead, the ministry brokered an agreement between the goblins and the orcs of northern and western Scandinavia. They're armed and armoured but housed at the bank; contracted to a decade apiece, there's no way they can be compromised by anyone from outside," Susan explained, handing the booklist back to Liane.

"Orcs? I thought they didn't exist until Lord of the Rings?" Liane asked, confused. Susan shrugged.

"They were called trollkin for a long time, but they really aren't related to trolls at all. Muggleborns started calling them orcs about forty years ago and it seemed to stick. Who is this Lord of the-" Susan began, but Liane waved her hand to cut her off.

"It doesn't matter; it's just a book series, a couple of good movies from before I was born. So Gringotts is pretty secure, then?" Liane asked. Susan smiled.

"Safest place on Earth, except perhaps Hogwarts," she replied. Barkin looked back from the front of the rail cart with a cruel sneer.

"Some might debate that," he said, and Susan shot him a dark look.

As the rail cart slowed to a stop, Barkin leapt out and scurried across the tracks to lower an extendable footbridge, allowing Susan and Liane to step across to the platform. The vault door was tall and made of darkened iron, which reflected the light from the smokeless torches in sinister ways. There were no guards out the front of this vault, however Liane was sure that that didn't mean it was unprotected.

"Key, please," Barkin said, and Susan handed over the key. Carefully, Barkin placed the key into the keyhole, turned it a quarter turn counterclockwise, then a half-turn clockwise, before returning it to its original position. There was a loud click, and then Barkin returned the key to the keyhole and turned it completely around, pulling open the door as he did so.

As the door swung open, Liane saw a glimpse of mounds upon mounds of gold, silver and bronze coins, as well as a variety of other treasures, before Susan stepped inside and began counting out coins into a small purse. Unsure of what she was supposed to do, Liane moved over towards Barkin, who was dutifully standing by the open vault door.

"So, what was that remark all about, the one about people arguing that Hogwarts isn't so safe?" Liane asked. Barkin sneered.

"Hogwarts was a battlefield for much of the last wizarding war, and before that they'd had their share of attacks from dementors and basilisks and all sorts of other nasties. Gringotts would have a perfect record, too, had it not been for Albus Dumbledore or the _great_ Harry Potter," he replied, "whom I recommend you do not mention to Spearhook. It was because of Harry Potter and his troublesome friends that Spearhook's brother was killed by You-Know-Who."

Liane wanted to ask more, but Susan was already back, her coin purse bulging.

"Come on, let's get a move on; there's plenty to see and do and we're burning sunlight," she said, clapping Liane on the shoulder and moving back towards the rail cart.

The two of them, cash readily in hand, made their way back out into the main thoroughfare of Diagon Alley with Liane's parents.

"So, first things first I suppose," Susan said, looking around.

"Books?" Liane asked, her eyes falling hungrily on the open doors of Flourish and Botts, the wizarding booksellers.

"Not yet; wands first. Old Ollivanders shop is down here; Marvin Wallace will find you a wand," Susan replied with a smile.

As they made their way down the street, Liane caught sight of the sign, polished up and repainted.

 _Ollivander's: Wand Sellers_

"So, who was Ollivander?" Liane asked, "if the seller is named Wallace?"

"Mr. Ollivander was the owner of the shop before and during the war, and he vanished around the time it was finishing. He has a son, somewhere, who inherited the place, and still technically owns it, but he lives in Nice. Marvin Wallace is the manager and proprietor," Susan explained.

"While you're in there, I'll take your folks around and we'll go grab the potion making kit next door; as it's always the same they'll have a first year kit that shouldn't take long to acquire. I'll be back in time to pay," Susan said, and Liane nodded, stepping inside the wand shop.

The room was dark, poky and dusty, filled with rows upon rows of shelves, each filled with small, slim boxes. It was like a second-hand bookstore and a shoe shop rolled into one, and Liane had to peer closely at the labels to work out what they said.

"Phoenix feather, 9 ½ inches," Liane murmured, reading the label on a box near the door.

"A fine choice," came a rolling, Highlands accented voice from the back of the store, "although not one for you I daresay. Come back, lass, no need to be frightened."

Liane walked down passed the shelves to find a portly man dressed in an apron balancing—one foot on a stepladder, the other on a shelf—and trying to reach a box on a high shelf.

"Um, hello?" Liane asked.

"One moment, ah; got you you beastie," he said, the box sliding out with the tips of his fingers. Popping open the box, the man's face fell.

"Not here? Where are you hiding?" he said, looking around, before he caught sight of Liane.

"Ah, a student; you're here for your first?" he asked. Liane nodded, and the man scrambled awkwardly down to the floor. He looked Liane over, humming to himself as he looked first this way then that, and then grabbed Liane's hand and looked critically at her fingers.

"You have strong hands for someone of your age," he said appraisingly. Liane shrugged.

"I play piano, my mother taught me," she explained. Marvin nodded, and let go of Liane's hand.

"Well then, let's see…" he murmured, moving down the aisle and grabbing a box from a shelf. Returning to Liane, he opened the box and withdrew a wand.

"Eight inches, willow, quite whippy, unicorn hair," he said, thrusting the handle of the wand towards Liane.

Liane grabbed the wand, and nothing happened. Even when directed by Marvin to wave it about a bit, there was a dramatic lack of any reaction whatsoever.

"Hmm, interesting," Marvin said, taking the wand back.

"What do you mean, interesting? What was supposed to happen?" Liane asked. Marvin shrugged.

"It could be nothing; but usually there is some sort of reaction, even if the wand isn't right," he replied. Liane felt nervous; _what if she was a squib as well?_ Her mother ought to have been a witch but just didn't have any power, what if Liane was the same?

"No matter, everything tells us something. Let's try...this one; phoenix feather, eight inches, yew," he said, pulling another box from the shelf and handing the wand to Liane. Liane, nervously, pointed the wand experimentally at the blinds covering the windows.

There was a stir in the air, and the blinds fluttered lazily, but the effect was less than stellar. Liane wasn't even certain that she had been responsible; the door was still open and the breeze could have easily have come from outside.

"Hmm," Marvin hummed, and Liane handed the wand back over with a blush on her face.

"You don't... you don't think I might not…" Liane stammered, but Marvin was already climbing back up the stepladder.

"All is well, young lass, just a mo- ahh!" Marvin cried, slipping from the stepladder and grabbing hold of the shelf to steady himself. The shelf collapsed, and Liane raised her arms over her head as wands and wand boxes rained down on top of her. She staggered back, slipping on a wild wand and falling to the ground.

As she landed, her hand landed on another wand, thrown from the shelf, and her fingers instinctively curled around the handle. With a rush, a sudden blast of air, Liane felt her vision cloud over with a sudden feeling of lightheadedness, and the wands and boxes were flung from her body. When her vision returned to normal, Liane was lying in a clear circle of floor in the middle of piles of boxes, and floating in the air above her were twinkling, sparkling yellow, red and blue lights, floating in oscillating concentric circles. After a second or two, the lights faded away, and Liane noticed Marvin staring down at her with wide eyes. Sitting up, Liane looked at the wand in her hand.

It was long, and dark; had she described it in one of her stories, she might have used words like eldritch, or ominous.

"Thirteen inches, ebony, rigid, and cored with a basilisk optic nerve. Made a quarter century ago by Ollivander using the Beast of Slytherin. This wand has resisted being sold in all that time, often with drastic results; I had come to the decision that it was not worth holding onto, and was going to place it into storage today. It has become infamous in recent years, as rumours and myths have sprung up around it. The wand is said to choose the witch or wizard, but I warn you, lass; this wand may have just claimed you," Marvin said, nervously. Liane got to her feet and held the wand out in front of her. Having gotten over the shock of feeling the magic flowing up her arm, Liane was just now finally coming to accept the power that she was now able to access.

"I can do magic with it, though?" she asked, not looking up at Marvin at all.

"Oh, I would think you would be capable of doing much with that wand, but-" he began, but Liane had lowered her arm and raised her head.

"Then it will do," she said, just as Susan was coming into the store behind her.

"All good Liane? Merlin's beard, what a mess," Susan said, stepping over the piles of boxes.

"We found my wand," Liane said, turning to Susan and raising the wand. Susan looked it over, a wry smile on her mouth.

"Well, that is an impressive specimen. How much, Marvin?" She asked.

"It's been reduced a couple of times, which is good news; one galleon, three sickles," he said, and Susan walked with him to the counter to pay. Liane looked back down at the wand and felt a smile tug at her lips.

"If it helps," she whispered, "I'd have chosen you as well."

She wasn't sure how to explain it, but for a moment she could have sworn that the wand felt warmer in her hand.

As they stepped out of the shop, Liane's new wand wrapped up in its old cardboard box and sitting in a paper bag, Susan spotted a small group of people down the street and her face lit up. Liane followed her eye and saw what to her looked like nothing short of a _crowd_ , at its centre two couples, the rest of the crowd revolving around those couples like moons around a giant planet. Two, a man and a woman, were fiery red-heads, and the other man wore round glasses, while the other woman had bushy, brunette hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Hey; I'll introduce you to some old friends of mine," Susan said, pulling Liane down towards the crowd, her parents trailing behind them. As they approached, the bushy-haired woman looked over and smiled.

"Susan!" said the woman, and the two of them hugged as they came together.

"Hermione; it's so good to see you. I'd probably have more free time if it weren't for _these two_ ," Susan said, breaking off the hug and looking wryly over to the two men.

"Bones," said the red-headed man.

"Off the clock, Ron, it's Susan out here. And Harry; it's Albus' first year this year, correct?" she said, and the dark-haired man in the glasses nodded. As his head moved, his hair swept to one side and Liane caught a glimpse of a small, lightning-shaped scar.

"Yeah; we're just heading down to Ollivander's now to get his wand," Harry explained.

"We just came from there; oh, that reminds me. Liane, this is Harry and Ginny Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley, and their kids James, Albus and Lily Potter, and Rose and Hugo Weasley. Everyone, this is Harriet my cousin, her husband Kyle, and their daughter, Liane Langford," Susan introduced. Liane looked at the bushy haired woman.

"Hermione Granger-Weasley; the ministry official who said Gringotts can't use Dragons?" she asked. There was a moment of silence as heads turned, surprised, towards Liane.

"I can't say that was what I was expecting," Hermione said with a smile. Susan grinned.

"Liane's been raised as a muggle; everything she knows about magic, she's learned very recently. She asked about the orcs and seems to have remembered your name," she explained, and Liane began to blush.

"I'm sorry," she began, but Hermione laughed.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to embarrass you. Yes, I wrote the Protection of Magical Creatures amendment to the Gringotts sovereignty bill," Hermione explained. Liane's brow furrowed.

"Gringotts is sovereign?" she asked, and Hermione's eyes locked on to Liane's, suddenly interested.

"Yes, it is; you understand sovereignty?" Hermione asked. Liane nodded.

"A little," Liane said, "dad could probably put it better. Basically means that Gringotts aren't restricted to the same law as everyone else."

"It means Gringotts isn't beholden to the laws of Magical Britain, only to agreements between the Gringotts bank and the Ministry. So they can do whatever they like within the walls of the bank if it doesn't break any agreements or spill out into Diagon Alley, whether it's illegal to wizards or not," Kyle added, "at least I assume the term sovereignty means the same thing here as everywhere else." Hermione smiled.

"That is true, in a way. Well, colour me impressed; I expect big things from you, Liane," Hermione said, and Liane's blush deepened.

"So, what house do you think you'll be in, Liane?" Ron asked.

Liane shrugged.

"I don't really know; I don't know much at all about the houses," she explained.

"Well," said James, the elder of the two young Potter boys, "there's Gryffindor, where most of we were sorted, which prides itself on those who are brave and headstrong. Ravenclaws are for people who are curious and intelligent, although that's pretty broadly applied. Hufflepuffs for loyalty and hardwork. And then there's Slytherin," he explained. Liane remembered what Marvin Wallace had said about her wand, and had already said,

"Slytherin," before she picked up on the falling cadence of James' voice. Looking around, she saw most of the faces on those in the Potter and Weasley families had drawn tight, as though they were trying to force a smile.

"Well, I'm sure you'll enjoy that. Anyway, we'll need to get going; after wands and potion stuff we'll have to head over to the ministry building for a bit. It was good seeing you, Susan, and nice meeting you, Liane," Harry said, and the group moved down the street towards Ollivander's.

The two of them began to walk back up the street towards Madam Malkin's in silence for a moment, before Liane spoke up.

"Okay, what on Earth was that about? I said Slytherin and they'd all reacted like I'd started swearing," Liane asked. Susan wriggled slightly, as though answering made her uncomfortable.

"Well, Slytherin house has garnered more than its fair share of ill will over the last few decades. First Grindelwald, then You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters, while not every dark witch or wizard to come out of Hogwarts has been Slytherin, of those that did is not a small number," Susan explained. Liane thought of Marvin's reaction to the wand that chose her.

Liane looked up.

"Death Eaters? What's a Death Eater?" she asked.

"Magic can't fix everything, unfortunately; some things it makes far worse. It can make good people great, but it can make bad people terrible. One man, many decades ago, became so bad, so powerful, he nearly destabilised all of magical Britain. As powerful people do, he gathered followers, and they called themselves Death Eaters. He was finally stopped only about nineteen years ago," she explained.

"This man, what was his name?" Liane asked.

Susan fidgeted nervously.

"It, uh, sort of became a curse word during the conflict; most people don't like to say it or hear it at all. So, while I can say it to you here, just know most people would prefer it if you simply said 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' or 'You-Know-Who'. His name… Was Voldemort."

Although the word meant nothing to Liane, the note of fear in Susan's voice was enough to send a chill down her spine.

"And… you hunted down his followers?"

"Yeah," Susan said, "I joined the Department of Magical Law Enforcement out of Hogwarts, like Auntie Amelia. It was from there I found out about Harriet; You-Know-Who never paid much attention to non-magic folk, but her birth records were still with the Ministry. I and other members of the DA took the fight to the remaining Death Eaters after the war."

"The DA?" Liane asked.

"That's probably enough history for the moment," Susan said, looking uncomfortable. They were silent for a moment as they walked down the street. Liane couldn't let it go, however.

"But that's just bias, surely? If Slytherin students really were more readily predisposed towards evil then why would Hogwarts continue to teach them?" Liane asked.

"It is an unfortunate aspect of the Slytherin priority; it takes in the ambitious and the cunning, those with keen minds who turn their talents toward self-promotion rather than innocent curiosity. For every Salazar Slytherin or Merlin it produces it also produces a Baba Yaga or a Grindelwald. But it has been a quiet, hard-working house since the war," Susan explained.

"Well, I'm not keen to be subjected to some people's petty prejudices, but Slytherin sounds like me," Liane said, setting her jaw.

"We'll see; sorting is a more complex process than that, even if you have to do very little work personally. Whatever happens will be for the best, I'm sure," Susan replied.

"That seems like a bit too much danger for my liking," Kyle said.

"Hardly; it's been nearly twenty years since there was any real danger at Hogwarts, and there's nowhere really safer in the long run. And besides, there's so much benefit to going; how about you two go and have a look at the telescopes while Liane gets sized up for robes?"

Reaching Madame Malkins, this time Susan entered first. As Liane stepped through behind her, she had to stop short as she found Susan standing stock still in the doorway, her wand in her hand. As Liane peered around Susan's frame, she saw a tall, thin man with pure white hair, and a boy with the same sneer and shock of white hair, although the boy's hair was ruffled in the carefree attitude of a child who delighted in frustrating his father. The sneer dropped from the boy's face as soon as he saw Susan and her bared wand, but the older man only smiled sarcastically.

"Inspector Bones; a pleasure, as always," said the man, raising his hands to his sides.

"Draco Malfoy. Out of Azkaban?" Susan said in a low voice. Draco Malfoy lowered his hands again and his smile widened.

"For some time, now, as well you know. I am just here helping my son get his materials for Hogwarts, just like everyone else," he replied.

"All too early, if you ask me," Susan said, but her wand was already being drawn back into her sleeve.

"Come now; is that anyway to speak in front of these _impressionable_ young children? Are you so keen for the sins of the father to be placed on the shoulders of his son? Because, let me tell you, that's not the _most_ healthy way to grow up," Draco sneered, and his son seemed to have relaxed slightly since Susan had put away her wand. Susan looked back at Liane, and bit her lip. Turning back to Draco, Susan's eyes narrowed.

"You and I, outside. Liane, please go and get yourself fitted; I need to have a word with Mr. Malfoy," Susan said, gesturing for Draco to step outside.

"Father?" the boy asked, but Draco raised a hand.

"It's alright; Inspector Bones is with the DMLE, I'm sure this is just a friendly chat. You get finished up and I'll be back shortly."

With that, the two of them, Draco and Susan, moved back outside and Liane was approached by a short, matronly elder witch, who immediately set about with wriggling, snake-like measuring tapes.

Liane noticed, as she held her arms up to let the measuring tapes reach up under her arms, that the blonde boy beside her was looking over nervously, as though afraid to be seen staring. Liane rolled her eyes and tried her best to ignore it, but was having difficulty keeping herself from glancing back over anytime she thought she was catching the boy looking.

Eventually, something within her snapped.

"Can I help you?" she asked, as calmly as she could manage. The boy let out an almost inaudible yelp and thrust his eyes forward once more, before glancing her way again. When he saw that Liane was still looking intently at him, one eyebrow raised, he began to turn red.

"Erm…Hi. My...My name's, uh…" he stammered, and Liane kept her expression vacant.

 _For someone with such a cool looking dad, this guy is kind of a dweeb_ , she thought to herself.

"Liane Langford," she said, interjecting when it seemed like she was getting nothing more than stammers, "a pleasure."

"Scorpius," he replied, hurriedly.

"Scorpius Malfoy I take it?" Liane asked. For some reason, this seemed to be the wrong question.

"You know about my family, then?" he asked, crestfallen.

"Uh, no, not at all. But Susan did call the man you called father 'Draco Malfoy', so when two and two go together…" Liane explained, struggling to keep the condescension out of her voice, "why? Should I know your family?"

Somehow, Scorpius brightened up.

"Oh, uh, well, I suppose you might not, after all. Nevermind, it's not important. So, first time at Hogwarts?" he asked. Liane nodded.

"My first forays into the world of magic entirely. It's certainly all a bit mind-blowing," she replied.

"Oh, you're muggleborn?" Scorpius asked, and Liane felt a tinge of nervousness in his question. His eyes seemed to flicker to the door as he asked. Liane looked at his eyes for a moment, before replying.

"No," she said, and when she did not elaborate Scorpius seemed to accept the answer.

"Any idea what house you'll be in?" Liane asked, repeating the question she'd been asked earlier.

"I can't imagine going anywhere other than Slytherin; no Malfoy has ever been anywhere else. But… I don't fully know, truthfully. I feel like I'm not really the right fit, for anywhere," Scorpius replied, and Liane nodded.

"I know what you mean. I have a feeling, though, I might be meeting you there," Liane said, and Scorpius looked sideways at her.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, but Liane merely shrugged.

There was no opportunity to ask any further questions, however, as Draco and Susan had returned from their conversation and Draco was beckoning for Scorpius to join him.

"I'd better go; it was nice meeting you, Liane. I'll see you on the train, I guess," Scorpius said, and Liane waved goodbye as the Malfoy's left.

"Making friends?" Susan asked, and Liane felt a touch of iciness in her tone.

"Just chatting. I think I'm almost done," Liane said, and sure enough Madam Malkin had taken the measurements and transfigured a mannequin to Liane's exact figure, adjusting the seams on a set of robes to a perfect fit.

After a short wait, they were once more back out in Diagon Alley, laden down with more shopping bags. Liane looked balefully at a magical luggage sellers, their windows proudly displaying magically extended and weightless trunks, pouches and inner robe pockets, and vowed to purchase one of each as soon as she had access to her own money.

"Flourish and Botts next, and then we're done," Susan said, directing Liane, who breathed a large sigh of relief, to the nearby bookstore.

"You get the books, I'll get your quills, ink and parchment supplies, and we'll meet up at the counter," Susan said, and Liane nodded. Following the directions to the rear "School Booklist" shelfs, Liane carefully filled a trolley with copies of _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot, _Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling, _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch, _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore, _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger, _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander and _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble. When she got to _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_ by Miranda Goshawk, however, Liane had a thought.

Power, in the wizarding world, was almost directly 1:1. Political might and financial strength may wield a lot of clout, but ultimately it came down to who could cast the strongest spells. With that in mind, Liane placed the remainder of the _Standard Book of Spells_ grades and the _Essential Defence against the Dark Arts_ and _Defensive Magical Theory_ into her basket, weighing it down by a further eight books. As she turned to leave, however, she caught sight of _Hogwarts: A History_ and _The Boy Who Lived: The Authorised Biography of Harry James Potter_ , and as an afterthought, added those to her basket as well.

Weighed down with her treasure trove, Liane lugged the basket back to the front counter, where Susan was standing, waiting. When she saw the significantly enlarged pile of books Liane was carrying, she smiled.

"Little wonder Hermione took a liking to you; no-one else I know has ever had such a passion for reading," Susan said, and Liane heaved her basket up onto the counter.

"The letter said that minors are not allowed to use magic outside of school; is there any risk of accidentally casting a spell if I practise with something like a wand but not, Mum's conducting baton, for example?" Liane asked. Susan shrugged.

"Wild magic, where a magical child causes things to happen on their own, tends to occur without any casting, usually triggered by high emotional states. I would think provided you kept your cool, you should be alright, but I'll chat with Emma Prescott in the Department of Magical Domestic Affairs and Children's Services and have them let me know if any of the wards go off near your house. You'll be on the Hogwarts Express in a couple of days anyway, so I shouldn't think you'll have too much trouble," she explained, and Liane nodded. The feeling of power she'd gotten from her wand filled her with equal measures of excitement and apprehension, and she was not keen to start throwing about spells without a thorough read-through of all of her books.


	3. Chapter 3: Railways and Rumours

Chapter 3: Railways and Rumours

The week leading up to the train ride to Hogwarts was a flurry of activity at the Langford household, as Liane first skimmed through the contents table of each of her spellbooks and then through the descriptions of each one, picking out the spells she liked the look of.

"So what is the first thing you're going to learn?" Harriet asked as Liane sat at the table with her books open.

"I don't know; there's so much in here," Liane said, her eyes wide, "I couldn't even begin to work out where to start."

"Well," said Kyle, looking over the list, "why not begin with something simple? There are a lot of useful looking abilities in the first year book."

"Yeah," said Liane, "that's true. There's one there that throws balls of fire…"

"Uh, maybe not," Harriet said worriedly.

"It's alright, mum, I can't actually do any magic without my wand anyway," Liane reassured her.

"Still, perhaps something safer would be better," Kyle said, "what about this one?"

Liane looked at the list. "I thought you said start with something easy?" she asked.

"Well, you do like a challenge. And according to your books it's only difficult because it has lots of pieces to it, not because it's actually difficult to cast," Kyle said.

"You're right," Liane said, looking at the spell, "I do like challenging myself. What do you think, mum?"

Harriet shrugged. "I'm afraid I really don't know, dear. I never really got to see very much of the magical world; they don't think much of squibs I'm afraid."

"You know," said Kyle, "it's so funny; as we were walking down that street, Diagon Alley or whatever it was called, I couldn't help but be reminded of the stories my nan used to tell me when I was a kid."

"What sort of stories?" Liane asked, picking up the third year spellbook.

"Oh, all the old stories from her youth, and of her mother and so on. She was convinced that magic was real, said that if you traced our heritage back far enough there were witches and sorcerers in the family. I'd always dismissed it as fairy tale nonsense, but I suppose there's every chance she was right. Hold on, there are some books in the attic I could show you, from when she died," he replied, before getting up from his chair and rushing up the stairs.

As Liane poured over her books, Harriet's conducting baton in her hand to help her practise the movement, Rollo placed his big head in her lap and looked up at her. Absent-mindedly, Liane gave the big dog a scratch behind the ear.

Some time and many muffled swears and crashing noises later, Kyle returned from the attic with a picture binder and an old book.

"Here, this is her," he said, opening up the picture book to a black and white photo of a beautiful young woman with slight south-eastern European features and a tall irish man with a rugged smile. "This is your great grandmother Esme and your great grandfather Patrick. They were O'Malleys then; Esme's daughter was my mother, who married into the Langford name. According to nana Esme, if you trace our family right back, you end up leaving Ireland again and going right into what is now the Czech Republic, where they were an old Romani family. Here," he said, opening up the book to show a fold out family tree. Many sections vanished off to the sides of the page, and pictures, even drawings, of the family stopped at about ten generations back. The top of the list was dated with "approx, 1450s?" and only carried one name; Yuri Zalteryn.

"How come I've never seen all this before?" Liane asked.

"I don't know; I guess it's never come up. I compiled a lot of this information myself back in the day, but it's been untouched for about twenty years, except for when they were chucked in boxes and dumped up in the attic," Kyle said.

"And you say nana Esme was a witch too?" Liane asked.

"No, she couldn't do any magic, for all her claims. But she told us stories when we were little about dances with sprites and people who turned into animals and all that kind of stuff. There's a few stories in there, why not take it with you?" Kyle said.

"Thanks, I will," Liane said with a smile, and she carefully refolded the family tree back into the book and stacked it and the photo album next to her schoolbooks.

* * *

Liane arrived at King's Cross Station with her obligatory travel trunk on the station trolley, her bewildered parents and beaming second-cousin, looking around for some sign of her fellow travellers to Hogwarts. Susan had explained on the trip down that Platform 9 ¾, where the Hogwarts Express travelled on it's own, special track from London to Hogsmeade Station, was hidden from Muggle eyes. As far as Liane was concerned, at this point, there was little difference between what Muggles saw and what a witch saw, but Susan promised to show her to the platform. In a backpack she carried over one shoulder Liane had brought with her a set of robes and her copies of the first two Standard Books of Spells. She had, in the week since her trip to Diagon Alley, already read, well, skimmed, through her expanded library of magical books once already, as well as having had a shot at practising the wand movements and enunciations for many of the spells.

Particularly fascinating, Liane had found, was the biography of Harry Potter, detailing the many adventures he had gotten up to at Hogwarts and the terrifying final chapters relating to the war against the Death Eaters and Voldemort. In every instance, Liane couldn't help but wonder at how simple the answer had always seemed to be; the genius that was Hermione and her mastery over magic. That she had gone into Ministry work rather than academia almost disappointed Liane, but nevertheless she had endeavoured to replicate the witch's studious and rational attitude. When she had brought up the topic with Susan, she'd been promised a signed copy of Hermione's own memoirs, and Liane was almost as excited for that as she was with the idea of going to Hogwarts.

"Come on, you three, over here," Susan said, waving Liane and her parents over to where she was standing by the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Liane was almost expecting another archway like at Diagon Alley, but instead Susan merely stepped straight through the wall.

"What?" Liane asked in a deadpan voice, narrowing her eyes at the wall.

"How did she-" Kyle muttered, bewildered, and Harriet looked worried.

"Liane, is this a...A witch thing?" she asked. Liane shrugged.

"I haven't a clue. Assuming that other muggleborns can get their parents to the platform, I'd say this is not warded against only magical people getting through, but what stops muggles from leaning against it? Is it perception filtered, stopping people from noticing blank wall space in a busy station like this? Is it something you can only get through if you know about?" Liane said, her voice low. As she did, Susan popped her head back through the wall.

"What's the problem?" she asked.

"The problem," Liane said in a slightly raised tone, "is that this is an objectively terrible idea. Who was the wizarding world's security consultant, the Dwarves of Moria?"

"The dwarves of where?" Susan asked.

"Oh, nevermind. Just tell me; if we walk at this wall, all three of us will get through without any problems?" Liane asked.

"Yeah, of course," Susan responded, before her head disappeared once more.

"Of course," Liane said with a roll of her eyes, before she strode forward at the wall. Just before she hit, she closed her eyes, but when there was no jarring crash of her trolley hitting the bricks Liane opened her eyes once more and looked around.

There before her, hidden magically in the wall space between platforms nine and ten, was the platform 9 ¾, with the bright, polished red steam engine emblazoned with the golden lettering that read "Hogwarts Express". Along the platform walls were small stalls featuring copies of the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler, glass bottles of drinks in lurid greens and purples and a variety of different pastries and candies. Susan had given Liane a small purse of what remained, totalling about ten galleons worth, with which to make small purchases throughout the year. At first Liane had thought the figure measly, but now that she saw the average prices of most things were measured in knuts, she realised that prices in the wizarding world was pretty significantly different than in muggle Britain.

As she made her way over to where a porter was stowing trunks in the undercarriage, Liane looked around. She could see the Potters and the Weasleys off to one side, as Harry was crouched down having a conversation with Albus. Scorpius and Draco were a ways off further down the platform, and the Munroe twins were sitting at a small table with some other children about their age. As Liane approached, Cassandra spotted her and waved her over.

"Liane, you made it! We'd like you to meet some people; this is Remy Scofield, Yvette Delacroix and James Potter," she said, introducing them in turn.

Yvette Delacroix was the most beautiful young girl Liane had ever seen, with dark burgundy-coloured hair, crystal blue eyes and milky-white skin. She wore a thick woolen scarf around her neck and a matching beanie, despite the early autumn air not quite being cool enough to Liane. Remy was a thin magus, their mohawk of bright rainbow colours clashing with the severe black of the Hogwarts robes. As Liane looked, their hair colours began to shift, flickering back down their head like the colour flashing on a cuttlefish.

"Pleasure to meet you all, and it's nice to see you again James," Liane said, nodding to each of them in turn. Cassandra looked confused as Liane sat next to Mitchell, elbowing him in the side playfully.

"Nice to see you too," James said, although his voice was somewhat restrained. Liane sighed.

"James, man, calm down; I was asked a question I didn't know the answer to, and in my panic I said the only word I'd heard before. I wasn't trying to pick a fight," she said, fixing her eyes on the older boy. James looked somewhat taken aback, and hesitated before responding. Yvette and Remy were both looking on with interest, and Cassandra gasped a little.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry," James muttered, before he stood up, "sorry guys, I have to go. I'll see you all at the feast."

As he left, Cassandra turned to Liane.

"Liane! Don't you know who that _is_?" she asked.

"That is a boy with famous parents and a stick up his ass. If he wants to treat people like second-class citizens just because they say they think they'll be sorted into Slytherin, well-" Liane started, but Cassandra had recoiled.

"What on earth made you say that?" she asked. Liane rolled her eyes.

"Not you too? Look, I only said that because it was the only one I'd heard of before, and I'd only heard of it before because of this," Liane said, drawing out her wand.

The table went silent for a minute as Mitchell and Remy's eyes widened, the two of them leaning forward to get a look at the infamous wand formed from the Beast of Slytherin. Yvette still looked confused.

" _Pardon_ , what is it?" she asked, and Liane realised that she was actually French.

"It's the wand Ollivanders made from the Basilisk that was trapped in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, the one Harry Potter slew in his second year. It has rejected every person to try and purchase it in the twenty-five years since it was made," Remy explained.

"That's a really bad omen, Liane," Cassandra said, and Liane returned the wand to her bag.

"Listen to yourself; you think you can see the future, the way you're talking. It's a wand, it is neither good nor bad on its own; it is what the witch, wizard or magus does with it that matters," Liane retorted. When Cassandra didn't look convinced, Liane softened her tone.

"Listen, Cass, you've known me for years. If you think I'm slipping, turning dark side, regardless of whether I'm sorted into Slytherin or wherever, then I trust you to interfere. Okay?" she said. Cassandra was quiet for a moment, before nodding.

"So, can you do any magic yet?" Remy asked.

"A little," Cassandra said, "some house spells that my mother taught me. Just little things."

"What about you?" Mitchell asked, to Yvette. Taking out her wand, a slender work of delicate white ash wood, she tapped it against her scarf.

" _e'coutoriae_ ," she chanted, and the scarf unravelled, the wool spinning in the air and reforming. When it settled back in place, it was a lavender silk neck scarf.

"Impressive," Remy said, "that permanent?"

Yvette shook her head.

" _Non_ , they'll turn back in a couple of hours. I sometimes call it the Cinderella spell," she said with a smile.

"Well, it's still pretty cool; even simple transfiguration charms are supposed to be really difficult. I mean, aside for stuff like this," Remy replied, as their hair seemed to deflate from its hypercolour mohawk and turned jet black, the colour bleeding down from their hair to their skin, "which is inherited. Aside from that, no real spells."

"Me neither," Mitchell replied, "house spells never really interested me, and Mum forbade our older brother to teach me any hexes."

"Oh, I'm glad," Yvette said, wrinkling her nose, "hexes are foul."

"But fun!" Mitchell replied with a giggle.

"Oh you-" Yvette began, but Remy cut her off.

"What about you, Liane?" they asked.

"I-" Liane began, but Cassandra cut her off.

"Liane grew up like a muggle; she's only known about magic for a little under a fortnight," she interjected, and Remy looked disappointed. Liane drew her wand again, and Cassandra looked at her warily.

"I may not have ever done this before, but I think I can manage one," Liane said in a cool, low tone. Raising her wand, she gazed intently at the air above the table.

" _Flagrate_ ," she said, and from the tip of her wand burst a shower of sparks, which danced in the air in concentric, bidirectional circles, mimicking the image she had seen in Ollivanders when she had found her wand. The sparks danced for a moment, before Liane flicked the wand out to the side, whereupon they flew out and flickered around the four children sitting around the table, before dissipating.

There was silence for a moment, before Remy's hair went bright red and their skin returned to its former white.

"That was your first ever attempt at a spell? Like, for real?" they asked. Liane returned her wand to her bag and nodded.

"Yeah; I read over all the books and I practised the movements and enunciation with a baton, but never with the wand. I'm pretty happy with how that came out, although I wanted them to be red and yellow, not all orange."

"Hey, a little colour mixing is nothing in the face of the fact that you successfully cast a third-year spell as your first ever attempt at magic," Mitchell said nudging Liane in the side.

"Thanks," Liane replied.

There was a loud blast of the train whistle, and Liane looked up at the magically animated lettering reading out the time.

"Oh, it's ten to already; I better go say goodbye to Susan and my parents. I'll catch you lot on the train?" Liane asked. Cassandra nodded as they all rose to their feet.

"Yeah, we'll save you a spot," she said, and Liane waved goodbye to the others as she walked back over to where Susan stood with the Potters, Weasleys, and the Langfords. Unsure of what she was supposed to do, Liane dawdled awkwardly at the edge of their conversation, but not for very long.

"Liane," said Harry, "I'm glad I got the chance to talk to you. I feel like I need to apologise for the other day; it's been made clear to me that my behaviour was not…"

"It's okay. Really, I get it; I read your biography, I know what some in the house stood for in those days," Liane cut in. She deliberately didn't say what she wanted to say next, that the population of Death Eater supporters and children numbered less than fifty, in a house of over three hundred, and that the entire house was condemned along with the others.

"It's not just that," Harry explained, "I realised that the way we treat our youth is the way we treat our future, and condemning a quarter of a generation because of the actions of a few is only going to hurt us all in the long run."

"That sounds… Very wise," Liane replied.

"That and you don't want to sound like a hypocrite after telling Albus he should be happy if he got sorted there," Ron said with a smirk.

"Well, I'm glad that's been sorted. Come on, Liane, say goodbye and then you better get on the train," Susan said. Liane nodded, and hugged her cousin, before then hugging first her father and then her mother in turn. When she hugged Harriet, Liane pulled in tighter.

"Be safe," Harriet whispered.

"I will," Liane replied.

As they broke apart, there was another loud blast from the whistle, and Liane hurriedly grabbed up her bag and waved goodbye to the others.

"I'll write home as soon as I get the chance," she said, before turning and racing for the Hogwarts Express, which was already puffing large clouds of smoke into the air.

As soon as she clambered on board, Liane could feel the train lurch into motion, and she slumped against the wall in relief.

Making her way down through the carriages, Liane checked the compartments to see where Cassandra and Mitchell were sitting. She passed by the compartment with James, Albus, Rose, and an older girl with platinum-blonde hair. She passed by the compartment with Scorpius and a number of other boys, the young Malfoy noticing her as she passed by and waving awkwardly. Liane smiled and waved back, but moved on ahead anyway.

Eventually she found Cassandra, Mitchell, Remy and Yvette in a compartment near the middle. Pulling open the sliding door, she fell into the compartment and collapsed, one leg hooked over Mitchell's lap.

"Okay, spill," Cassandra said, throwing a jelly bean at Liane's head.

"Ow, what?" Liane replied, raising her arms over her head to protect against any future ballistic confectionary.

"Explain how the girl who found out about magic two weeks ago is on speaking terms with the heroes of the second wizarding war?" Cassandra asked, sternly.

"Oh, that. Well, that sort of ties back to what I was talking about with James. I met them all in Diagon Alley the other day with Susan," Liane explained.

"And that was enough for you to have _Harry Potter_ seek you out to talk to?"

"Yeah. He was apologising for being a jerk when I said I thought I might be sorted into Slytherin; the lot of them were, except for Hermione," Liane said, a smile flickering across her face.

"Oh, that is so you, Liane, of course you idolise Hermione Granger-Weasley," Cassandra replied, grinning and throwing another jelly bean.

"Hey, I can't help but think she had the right idea; with all the wealth of information out there about magic, anyone who _doesn't_ read everything they can get their hands on is just ruining their chances," Liane replied. Remy let out a snort that temporarily turned their nose into a pig snout.

"That's one way to look at it," they said.

"What do you mean?" Yvette asked.

"Well, not everyone's goals are based on the magic they can do," Remy replied. Liane raised an eyebrow.

"Name one profession, magical or muggle, that's not easier to achieve with magic?" she asked. Remy shrugged.

"Quidditch player?" they responded. Liane grinned.

"Don't you mean _honest_ Quidditch player?" she asked, and Remy let out a startled laugh.

"Oh, point to you, that was good. Okay, fair enough, yes, if you _cheat_ , you can use magic to be better at Quidditch, but while you may be successful in the short term, each game you play lowers your probability of holding onto that success," they replied.

"Well, if what I was hearing when I got on the train is true, you might get an opportunity to prove it," Cassandra said, leaning forward conspiratorially.

"What? What did you hear?" Mitchell asked with a frown.

"Some girls were saying that they had heard that a girl in sixth year had heard from her boyfriend in Durmstrang that there'll be another Triwizard tournament this year," Cassandra replied.

"What?" Remy asked, stunned.

Liane frowned. "Didn't they ban that again after the one in '94?" she asked.

Cassandra shrugged.

"That's just what I heard. Still, it would be exciting if it were true, wouldn't it?" she replied.

"I don't see how it would affect us, really; last time they restricted it to 7th years only, except for the circumstances that led to Harry's acceptance. And since the last one happened at Hogwarts, the next one would be at another school, wouldn't it? We're not likely to see any of it, even if it's true," Mitchell said, reaching over to his sister and grabbing a jelly bean from the box, dodging her arms as he flicked it at her face.

"Ow, quit it. Look, I'm just saying, there might be an opportunity to show off how quickly you picked up spells like that one before," Cassandra said, glaring at her brother.

"Yeah, maybe," Liane replied, suddenly lost in thought.

The train ride up through the English countryside was long and uneventful, with the exception of a brief stop by the lady with a trolley bearing sweets and pastries. When they finally arrived, night was already falling, and Liane and the others had changed into their robes. When she was sure no-one could see, Liane pulled out her wand and pointed it at the compartment floor, now littered with spent jelly bean ammunition.

" _Scourgify_ ," she cast, and the evidence of their rowdiness vanished. Securing her wand back under her robes, Liane followed the others out to where the first years were being herded by the prefects.

"First years, this way," called the pale-haired girl Liane had seen sitting with Albus and James. Losing sight of the others, Liane made her way towards the girl, finding herself standing next to Albus.

"Oh, hi," he said to her as she approached.

"Hi to you," Liane replied.

"Uh, James told me what you said to him."

Liane raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I want to apologise too; that was rude of us," Albus said, blushing.

Liane smiled. "It's nothing, seriously. Friends?" She held out her hand. Albus hesitated for a moment, then took her hand in return.

"Friends," he said with a smile.

"Albus, stop talking!" the pale-haired girl called out over the crowd. Albus shrunk back.

"Sorry Victoire," he replied, and the girl gestured for everyone to follow her.

Victoire Weasley led the first years down from Hogsmeade station to a well worn path that led from the edge of the village around the edges of the Hogwarts grounds, the castle glittering in the distance across the large, icy-black lake. At the lake's edge, at the end of their path, was a dock lined with a legion of small four-person boats.

"Orright, ev'ryone, this way; find yer boat and take a seat," came a booming voice over the heads of the first years. Liane and Albus turned to look, Liane with an expression of curiosity and Albus beaming, to see a huge, hairy man stalking through, leaning heavily on a tall, gnarled oaken branch.

"Hagrid!" Albus cried aloud, and the man turned a twinkling eye on the two of them.

"Orright, young Albus? Getcher to the boats, we can talk proper after the feast," Hagrid replied, and Albus nodded excitedly. Liane watched as he led the way to the boats.

"That's Rubeus Hagrid?" she asked as the crowd moved forward.

"Yeah; you know him?" Albus asked.

"Not really; a paragraph in the bio of your dad. You seem to know him though," Liane said.

Albus nodded.

"He took care of us when mum and dad had work. I've known him for, well, all my life," Albus explained, his earlier shyness melting away.

"Well, I'll have to ask you to introduce me then. Come on, let's get a boat," Liane replied, and they moved on, settling down in the first boat they could find.


	4. Chapter 4: The Fourth House

Chapter 4: The Fourth House

Liane and Albus found a boat that had only one other occupant, and settled in as the first few launched out from the pier on their own, travelling across the lake sedately with small, magically burning lanterns appearing off the prow. As it neared the time for their boat to leave, Hagrid came past and dropped a fourth student into their boat.

"Stay there, Malfoy," he growled, and Liane recognised Scorpius glaring up at Hagrid just as their boat began to move.

"Malfoy?" Albus said, turning around. Scorpius spotted Albus and rolled his eyes.

"Of course. Hello Potter," Scorpius replied. Liane raised an eyebrow; both boys were stammering mice at first but one look at one another and they were like carved ice.

"I-" Albus began, but Liane tapped the shoulder of the girl they were sharing their boat with.

"Can I swap seats? I feel like these two need a buffer," she said, and the girl smiled and nodded. With a bit of maneuvering, Liane managed to place herself between Albus and Scorpius.

"Right, you two, your dads hated each other, yada yada, we get it. So before we get into the castle, I'm going to say this; I think you're both pretty decent guys, and I'd love to be friends, but I'm not putting up with any more of this," Liane said, waving her hands in the air, "so make up your minds; are you going to be your own people, and make your own decisions, or are you going to keep being petty children?"

Albus and Scorpius looked at Liane, and almost in unison looked at one another. There was a tense moment when Liane thought they might leap at each other's throats, her getting caught in the crossfire be damned, but it was broken when their other passenger called out.

"Look!" she cried, and Liane looked in the direction she was pointing. A flock of what looked like bats made of sparkling balls of light was streaming from the tall north tower, down over the castle and towards the lake. As they skimmed across the surface of the water towards the boats, they exploded like fireworks, bright flashes of colour and light dancing across the water. As each began to fade, the twinkling lights remained hanging in the air, creating a cloud of fairy lights that the boats drifted through as they approached the pier on the castle side of the lake. Liane reached out and touched one as they passed, and the light seemed to pop like a soap bubble, leaving a thin film of glowing liquid on her fingers which faded away quickly.

"A fireworks charm, bubble lights charm and a variation on the avifors charm, all at once; very impressive spellwork," Liane said, looking around.

"That would be Flitwick, the Charms Master and head of Ravenclaw," Albus replied.

"I wouldn't put money on you being wrong," Liane said with a nod, and she sat back down in her seat while the boat found an empty spot on the quay. As the first years made their way out of the boats and into haphazard rows on the pier, Hagrid walked to the head of the line to where a tall, ruggedly handsome man in flowing black robes stood waiting.

"Orright, Deputy Headmaster; first years ready and accounted for," he said with a nod.

"Thanks, Hagrid," the other man said with a smile, "I'll show them on from here."

"That's Deputy Headmaster Neville Longbottom," Albus explained, but Liane wasn't listening.

"What's with the triple-checked security? Prefects on the train, professor at the boats, deputy headmaster at the castle?" Liane asked as the lined began to move forward.

"I- I'd actually never thought about that," Albus said, looking at Liane with a curious expression.

"Just odd," Liane said with a shrug, as the lines moved up the grand stairway up to the Entrance Hall.

"Okay, first years, listen up. When the doors open, Hagrid will call your name from here, and then I'll announce you to the room. You'll walk down the row in the middle of the Great Hall, put on the hat, and when you're sorted you'll go and join your house," Professor Longbottom called out, before moving through the large double doors into the brightly lit hall beyond.

Liane thought for a moment how confused she would have been had she not bought a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ along with her schoolbooks. The Sorting Hat, an ancient relic of the original four founders, which magically peered into the mind of the student who wears it to discern which house would suit them best.

As the doors opened, the hats song echoed out into the Entrance Hall.

" _In ancient times a trio came_

 _To formulate a plan._

 _They'd use their power and their fame_

 _To help their fellow man._

 _Brave Godric, sought the pure of heart,_

 _Wise Ravenclaw, the bright,_

 _With Helga setting none apart_

 _All would gain their right._

 _But though the walls were raised and strong_

 _The three had none to teach._

 _For few, it seemed, would come along_

 _No matter how beseeched._

 _Then came to them did Salazar,_

 _His followers in tow,_

" _I'll bring you pupils, wide and far,_

 _If with me you will go."_

" _We set down roots on neutral ground,_

 _And teach in our own way._

 _I promise, then, from miles around_

 _They'll come, just as I say."_

" _What way is yours, then?" Helga asked,_

" _That you would teach instead?"_

" _With what we three have said we tasked_

 _What new ground will you tread?"_

 _Yet all that Slytherin would say_

 _When he gave his reply_

" _I'll take those who will have their day_

 _And brook no failure to try."_

 _In ages since it's birth_

 _The house's reputation fell._

 _Many questioned its current worth_

 _And sought to end its spell._

 _But listen here, I tell you_

 _The Fourth House's day is near;_

 _No villain past could ever do_

 _What this hero will do here._ "

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to process the words of the Hat's song. Liane leant back on her heels.

"Huh," she said, mostly to herself.

"Did that just happen?" Scorpius asked, sidling up next to her.

"If you heard the hat just say the next big hero of the magical world is going to be a Slytherin, then yeah, I think it did," Liane replied.

"That can't be," Albus said.

"You what?" Scorpius asked in a low voice, taking a threatening step towards Albus. Liane threw up a hand to keep them from throwing punches.

"Seriously; the hat spends all its time locked up in the Headmaster's office, it never leaves except for sorting. It _couldn't_ know one of us is going to be a big hero until it's at least sitting on our heads," Albus replied.

"Orright, calm down there; there's still a sorting to get on with. Let's start with," Hagrid peered at the scroll in his hands, "Abington, Tessa."

"ABINGTON, TESSA," came Professor Longbottom's voice, as a small girl stepped out through the Entrance Hall doors, the same girl who had been in Liane's boat.

"So, the Sorting Hat doesn't have any other powers? Don't I remember reading something about your dad being able to draw the Sword of Gryffindor from inside it?" Liane asked, turning to Albus.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"So, couldn't it be possible the hat has some precognitive abilities? It would certainly explain how it manages to be so certain about the possibilities for each student being sorted," Liane asked.

"Well, nothing like this has ever happened before," Albus said with a shrug.

Liane watched the sorting with a bemused interest, giving a cheer when Yvette was sorted into Ravenclaw. After a short wait as the list worked its way into the middle, when at last,

"LANGFORD, LIANE," was called.

Liane stepped forward, smiling back at Albus and Scorpius, who were both too busy applauding to realise they were now standing side by side.

Walking out into the Great Hall, despite knowing what to expect from her books, Liane was a little taken aback by the sight. Reams of floating candles filled the air with bright yellow light, and the enchanted ceiling showed the starlit sky above as. Four massive tables, decorated in red, yellow, blue and green, filled the majority of the hall, and a fifth table, decorated in gold and silver, stood along the back wall, where all the teachers sat facing the students. In the middle of the end table sat an ancient, stern looking woman in scarlet lined robes, and in front of her stood Professor Longbottom and the stool with the sorting hat perched atop it. Liane smiled at Yvette, her robes already fringed with blue, as she passed by on her way to the hat.

As she stepped up onto the dais, Longbottom picked up the hat and, once she was seated on the stool, placed the hat on Liane's head.

 _Well, well, well, another one._

Another one? What's that supposed to mean?

 _Nevermind, young one. So, where to put you…_

Wait, I have a question about your song.

 _The song said all it needed to, I will speak no more on it._

But-

 _Hush, young one. I am the Sorting Hat, and what I sing about is my business._

So you tell everyone a hero is going to arise out of the least popular house and leave it at that?

 _It is what it is. Now; we are here for a reason. Let us see what reason you are here._

I would think it was fairly obvious.

 _Is it though? You are brave, and clever, and fiercely loyal. Reckless, too, a trait I see a lot in those your age with your skills. But-_

But I'm driven.

 _That's… One way to put it._

Ouch.

 _Fine. If you're so sure of yourself, there is nothing I could say that will change things for you. A suggestion then; do not abandon all that you are to focus on the greater part of you. Also, be careful to not show too much of yourself, even to your closest friends._

I'm ready. Say it.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat called, and as Liane lifted the hat from her head she saw emerald trimming appear on her robes.

Moving across to the Slytherin table, Liane took a seat amongst her new peers, accepting pats on the back and high fives. She watched and cheered as the remainder of the sorting progressed; Remy and Scorpius joined her in Slytherin, Albus and the Munroe twins went to Gryffindor. As the sorting wrapped up, Professor Longbottom carried the hat away and Headmistress McGonagall stood up in her chair.

"Welcome, students, to a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now that we have had the sorting, and before the feast begins, I have a few announcements to make.

"Firstly, as is always the case, we wish to remind students that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds at all times except under the express permissions of a teacher. This includes those bearing the last name Potter," McGonagall said. Liane turned in her seat to look across at the Gryffindor table, where Albus looked horrified and James was sniggering to himself.

"Secondly, we are pleased to announce the First Magical Olympiad, a spiritual successor to the ancient Triwizard Tournament, to be hosted at Beauxbatons Academy. The Olympiad will bear some significant changes from the Tournament, and further details will be posted in each Common Room. Qualifiers will be held at the end of autumn."

"Finally, we would like to welcome two new teachers onto the faculty; Professor Ernest Macmillan, and Professor Renee Delacroix. Professor Macmillan will be taking the Defence Against the Dark Arts and Professor Delacroix will be taking Charms class B. Please welcome them both warmly.

"At last, a word of welcome to all students, new and returning. Hogwarts can be the first step in a long and valuable life, but it is not an easy path. We expect nothing but your best, and in return, we will give you ours."

With that, McGonagall sat back down, and the plates on each of the tables were suddenly laden down with piled of food of every possible style and taste. Liane piled up her plate and listened, a smile on her face, as the rest of Slytherin house began to discuss the upcoming competition.

"I can't believe they're really doing it," a fourth-year was saying to her friend.

"Why not?"

"Well, after last time,"

"Hold on," Liane said, "didn't McGonagall say this was the first one?"

The fourth-year turned to Liane with a sneer.

"Didn't you hear; it's just a repaint of the Triwizard Tournament," she replied.

"Until we see the new rules, we can't really know how different they'll be. There's going to be qualifiers this time, so there's no Goblet of Fire for one thing," Liane retorted.

"You thinking of entering, Liane?" Remy asked, appearing in the seat beside her.

"If first years are allowed to, sure, I'll try out. I don't think it's very likely, however," Liane replied.

"Maybe it will be team challenges; testing teamwork as well as problem solving and wand work?" asked another first year, Luke Kingsley.

"That would stack more points in favour of the older kids I bet; they all know each other," replied a first year girl beside Luke, Hannah Powell.

"Would they pit the year levels against each other?" Liane asked.

"The old Tournament, before the age restriction in the last one, would allow a student of any year to enter their name into the Goblet," the fourth-year responded.

"True, but-"

"Like you say, Liane, we won't know for sure until we get a look at the new rules. Meanwhile; dinner is getting cold," Remy said with a smile, stealing a piece of chicken from Liane's plate.

When the feast finally came to a close, McGonagall stood back up to address the students.

"One final word, students, before you return to your House common rooms to, no doubt, read up on the new competition and fail to sleep soundly before classes tomorrow.

"The four founders produced the Sorting Hat for one reason; to allocate the students to each of the four houses. Whatever other abilities it was given, it was entrusted with that solemn purpose, and no other. Therefore, we will not accept any poor behaviour resulting from this evening's performance. This is not to be taken as permission by Slytherin students to behave recklessly, nor is it to be taken as a license by students in other houses to discriminate. Anyone found to be acting in this way will be punished accordingly."

As she was done, McGonagall stepped down off the dais, and the house prefects stood up to herd the first years together.

"First years, this way," called a fifth-year boy in green trimmed robes, and Liane and Remy made their way towards him. Liane could see Albus, Cassandra and Mitchell across the hall, standing with Victoire Weasley, heading off already out of the Great Hall.

"Alright everyone;" said the fifth-year, "my name is Booker Fauchelevent, and I'm one of four prefects in Slytherin House. Any questions, you come to me, Molly Shepard," he pointed to a tall redheaded girl, "Wanda Mi" he pointed to a pretty girl with south-east asian features, 'and Rudzani Mandini" he pointed to a tall, broad-shouldered black boy who appeared a few years older than any of the others.

"Right, follow me, this way," Booker called out, and he and Molly took the lead out of the Great Hall with Wanda and Rudzani taking the rear.

The crowd of first years, strung out into haphazard lines between the dual pairs of prefects, moved out of the Great Hall and back into the Entrance Hall, where the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws could be seen heading up the grand staircase.

Booker and Molly led the way passed the grand staircase and down the corridors of the ground floor classrooms towards the stairs that led down towards the dungeons. Once underground, they doubled back and started moving steadily downwards the direction they'd come. When they were, as far as Liane could tell, under the northern edge of the lake, Booker stopped in front of a large statue of a venerable old wizard with a long beard and a snake coiled around his arm, which gripped a staff. Booker looked up at the statue for a moment, and the snake uncoiled from the man's arm and raised its head.

" _The only one to trust along with that which is human_ " the snake hissed.

"Meander," replied Booker, and the snake nodded, coiling back around the statue's arm.

As the snake returned to its spot, the statue sunk down into the ground, the recess in the wall that it stood within widening to reveal a black marble arch.

The room beyond was cool and dark, as befitted its locale, yet was otherwise dry, spacious and luxurious. The space beyond the arch led to a wide landing, ringed with pillared marble railings, with a set of stairs leading out to either side, curving in towards the middle of the room.

In the centre of the room beyond stood a large reflecting pool, fed by a water fountain that flowed down through the rungs of a crystal chandelier which shined with the same silver light as the covered brackets along the walls. Between the stairs and the fountain was a study nook, the bookshelves encircling the deep emerald couches and tables, and on the other side was a much larger common lounge, big enough to host a party of over a hundred people, as far as Liane could tell. There was a small crowd in the common area already, clustered around one of the tables, and Liane guessed that this was most likely where the new Olympiad rules were written down. At the very furthest end of the room, where the walls curved once more in towards each other, were seven doors leading out to the dormitories, one for each year group. The middle door, leading off to the fourth year dorms, was honour guarded on either side by large, ornate glass cases, in which sat monstrously large silver diamond kraits, their arrow-shaped heads raised as they peered out of their cases and looked at the Slytherin common room.

"Welcome to the common room; this is your main living area, secluded from students of the other houses, for the duration of your stay at Hogwarts. First years are responsible for the feeding of Anguis and Zmeya, our house pets," Booker said, gesturing to the glass cages at the end of the room.

"Get yourselves comfortable, we'll do the dorm assignments in a moment; Remy Scofield, Scorpius Malfoy and Olivia Greengrass, we need to speak with you three," Molly added, and the three students stepped forward while the rest moved down the stairs. Liane lingered a moment, hoping to catch a word or two of what was being said to her friends, but Rudzani and Wanda stepped between them and her and began to herd the stragglers down the stairs.

Instead, Liane moved down towards the back of the room, trying to get a glimpse at the rule sheet for the competition, but unfortunately was unable to get near it. Instead, she sat down on one of the couches and closed her eyes.

" _Iiiikcle fiirssssssstiiies,_ " came a voice behind her, and Liane's eyes shot open. She didn't move however, straining to listen to the conversation.

" _Wooondeer iff they'll be woorth the effffort,_ "

" _Alwayssss a gamble. Never know whooo issss really ssssstrongg, whoo isss jusssst pretending,"_

" _A pityyy. The lassssst oonne we sssspoke toooo, tooo loong ago nowww, sssssuch promissse, but too ssssssure of himsssself._ "

Liane sat upright and, trying to look casual, turned to look behind her. She saw no-one, nothing except the doors and the walls and the cages, the snakes still bobbing about.

A nagging sensation at the back of Liane's memory, begging to be recognised, started shouting, and Liane very carefully stood up, moving to the seventh year dorm door and moving back around the wall.

" _Heeeere comesss onnne nooow,_ "

" _Heeeere iiiickle fiirrssssttiiiie,_ "

Liane stopped as she reached the cage between doors four and five, and looked around furtively. No-one was paying any attention to the first year looking at the snake cage, but she lowered her voice none-the-less.

" _Wasss that you_?" she asked, feeling the question sharpen across the tip of her tongue. The snake looked back at her and blinked.

" _Merlin'sssss beeaaard, you can heeeaaar usssss?_ " it asked in response.

Liane's face went blank, and she promptly turned on her heel and walked across the room to the study nook under the stairs.

 _Oh, god, oh god, oh god oh god oh god,_ Liane's mind raced, as she tried to breath deep and keep her heart rate under control.

She had handled the appearance of magic well enough. Even the knowledge that fantastical creatures were real and an entire industry was devoted to hiding them, even that much was believable. But while it was one thing to read in a book that this or that almost mythological figure from history could "speak with snakes", but that she could do so as well? It was almost too much.

"And they swear," she mumbled to herself.

"Who's swearing?" Remy asked, falling into the couch next to her. Liane hurriedly composed herself.

"No-one, it's nothing really. What was all that about?" she asked, nodding her head up to where Scorpius and Olivia were making their way downstairs.

"Rooming requirements; magi are roomed separately from both male and female dorms, so I'm sleeping in a dorm with two second-years, a fourth-year and a sixth-year. And as for those two," Remy said, gesturing to the others, "apparently the scions of Ancient and Most Noble Houses like Malfoy and Greengrass get their own private rooms."

"I guess that makes sense, for Slytherin house at least. I can't imagine Albus is getting his own room," Liane said with a smile.

"Probably not," Remy agreed, "still if the perks are there, go for it. You looked at the rules yet?"

"Not yet; I want to wait for the crowd to die down a little," she replied.

"Booker told us all to have a look at them, so I'm thinking there must be something there for first-years to get involved in," they added, and Liane glanced back down the other end of the room.

"Well, then, it ought to be interesting," Liane replied.

The crowd began to peter out at about nine in the evening, and Liane and Remy made their way over. Scorpius, Olivia and Hannah were still sitting nearby, chatting about the event, and Liane took a closer look at the notice.

 _The First Magical Academic Olympiad_

 _Hosted by Beauxbatons Academy and featuring teams from_

 _Beauxbatons_

 _Hogwarts and_

 _Durmstrang_

 _The Olympiad is to comprise of three events taking place throughout the school year, with the total points awarded over the three events deciding the winning school._

 _Each school is to present one team of five students for each of the seven years. (Totalling thirty-five in total from each school, numbering 105 competitors)_

 _Each event will pit each team against the year level appropriate teams from the opposing schools._

 _The three challenges are to take place on the following dates:_

 _November Fifth_

 _February First_

 _April Twentieth_

 _Qualifiers will be held on October Tenth through Seventeenth_

"Well, that is _very_ intriguing," Liane said as she finished reading through the document.

"Indeed; over a hundred competitors! Certainly not a simple repaint of the Triwizard Tournament," Scorpius replied.

"More interesting; five students per group," Liane said, sitting down at the table while Remy had a look at the rules.

"Why is that interesting?" Hannah asked, frowning.

"It isn't obvious?" Liane asked with a smile.

"Four houses, Hannah; no matter what, each team will have an unevenly weighted house distribution," Scorpius explained.

Hannah looked pensive for a moment, and then her mouth split into a wide smile.

"Oh, that's cruel. That can't have been McGonagall, there's no way," she said with a laugh.

"It wasn't Longbottom, that's for sure. And Beauxbatons has only three houses, so they're even worse off. I have no idea what the houses are like at 'strang, but I'm going to take a wild stab and say it's five," Remy said, joining them.

"You'd get the money," Scorpius said, "Durmstrang's houses are Njolnnon, Solvesgaard, Lurliig, Kormoroc and Haalvaanj. Beauxbatons is hosting, 'strang set the team layout… What's the bet Hogwarts is designing the tests?"

" _Cleeeeveerrr fiiiirrsssstiiee,_ " Anguis called out, and Liane tried to suppress her instinct to turn towards the cages.

"That'd be my guess," she said instead.

Before anyone could say anything, Booker and Molly had arrived.

"First years! If you haven't been given other instructions, come here for your room assignments," Booker called out. Remy, Scorpius and Olivia said goodbye and moved back over to the other side, where Liane finally noticed another doorway leading off to what she assumed was the private rooms and magi dorm.

"Girls first; Ayers, Abernathy, Cassini, Holden and Harper, you're in girls Dorm A. Langford, Powell, Price, Rosenberg and White, you're in B. Off you go; your luggage has already been delivered, but you can pick your beds," he read out from the list. Liane and the other girls all stood up and headed for the doorway to the first year dorms, which split into boys and girls stairwells leading down sets of stairs. Down the girls tunnel there was a corridor at the bottom of the stairs, with one door at the far end and two across from one another halfway down, marked A, B and C from left to right, with B at the very end. Halfway between Dorm B and C was another door, a plaque on the door identifying it as a communal bathroom.

Moving through, half the girls split off into room A, leaving Liane with Hannah and three other girls to move through to dorm B.

In the centre of the room, arrayed around a brazier burning with warm, silvery flames, were the trunks and packs from the train, along with engraved name tags.

"Jessica Price, Samantha Rosenberg and Francesca White," Liane read aloud as she walked around the pile, before finding her own.

"And you're the mudblood," said one of the girls, snatching up her own tag as Liane passed. Liane turned to the girl, a frown etched on her face.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"You heard me; worse than a mudblood, the daughter of a squib! How you made it to Hogwarts I don't know, let alone into a noble house like Slytherin," the girl sneered.

"I'll show you how I got here," Liane snarled, reaching into her robes, but Hannah threw herself between the two of them.

"Liane, don't. Jessica, shut up," Hannah said, turning to the other girl, who let out a huff and turned away.

"What? You think I'm going to put up with this blood purist cr-"

"Yes. You will," Hannah said, pushing Liane back, "you will because Jessica Price is the daughter of the Minister for Educational Affairs, with direct authority over the Headmistress. One word of her being harmed, and you won't even see the Student Advocate before you're back on the train."

Liane glared at the back of the other girl's head, hard enough that she thought she might burn straight through just sheer anger alone.

"Liane, promise me you will not do anything," Hannah said.

"Fine, I promise I wont try anything. But if she's planning on entering the qualifiers for the Olympiad, she'd better watch her back," Liane growled, before grabbing the handle on her trunk and dragging it as far from Jessica as she could. Hannah took the bed next to hers, with Samantha on the other side, and Francesca between Samantha and Jessica.

Liane pulled open her trunk, grabbed a pair of pyjamas and her copy of Standard Book of Spells, grade 1, and her wand, before climbing onto the four poster bed and pulling shut all the curtains. At the head of the bed was a slider with a silencing charm on it, which Liane pulled up the whole way, completely silencing her bed from the outside world.

She took a deep breath, first in, then out.

By the time the tears ended, it was past midnight.


	5. Chapter 5: Many Kinds of Defence

Chapter 5: The Many Kinds of Defence

Liane woke the next day with a start, her heart racing from a dream quickly fading from her memory, her wand in her hand.

" _Lumos_ ," she whispered, and the tip of her wand began to glow with a bright, white light. Peaking out from between the curtains, she saw the dorm room was still dark and the other girls were still asleep in their beds. Pulling her backpack up onto her bed, she emptied the contents out onto her bed, and found the analogue watch she'd remembered to pack.

It was only six in the morning, but Liane couldn't imagine being able to get back to sleep. Instead, she extinguished her wand, and by feel she found a fresh change of clothes and made her way out to the bathrooms.

The girls dorm bathroom was separated into two main sections; one filled with rows of toilet stalls, the other, rows of shower cubicles, and on either side of the partitioning wall were sinks and mirrors. Liane had a quick shower, changed and quietly returned her pyjamas to her bed, before heading back out to the common room.

" _Iitssss the ffirrssssstiiie,_ " Zmeya said as Liane appeared at the top of the stairs. Liane looked around and found no-one else around, and so crept over to the cages.

" _Lisssten you two, I'mmm not keen onn thissss 'firsssstttiiieee' bussssinessss,"_ she hissed.

" _Aaaah, sssso ssshee doessss hear ussss,_ " Anguis replied, " _and heeere weee were thiiinkiiiing you were making foooollsssss of ussss._ "

" _Issss that haard_?" Liane asked, and Zmeya let out a barking hiss like a laugh.

" _Iiicklee firsssttiie issss funnny,_ " she hissed, _"Peeeeveesss would have liiiiked heeer_."

" _Peeevesss liiked fiiirsssttiieessss,_ " Anguis replied.

" _Whhhaaaat dooo yooouuu waaant_?" Liane asked.

" _Miiccce,_ " Zmeya said with a nod.

" _Commmpannyy,_ " Anguis added, " _laaaasssst Parsssselmouth a Grryyyffindooor. Onne befffooore that Dark Looord. Nooot good at chatssss,_ " he shifted his body around in what could only be described as the snake equivalent of a shrug.

"Liane? Merlin, Liane, what are you doing up?" Scorpius called out from the other end of the common room, rubbing his eyes. Liane jumped.

"Uh, couldn't sleep. Thought I'd go for a walk," she replied hurriedly.

"Oh, okay…" Scorpius said, looked blearily at her for a bit, "well, uh… Have a good one.." before turning back and heading to his private room.

Liane shot a glimpse back at the glass cages, before shrugging the collar of her robes up around her neck and heading up out of the Slytherin common room.

The dungeons this early were freezing, and Liane still hadn't quite mastered the warming charm, so she hurried upstairs to the Entrance Hall and outside onto the lawns, where while it was not a whole lot warmer it was at least less cramped and dark. As the sun rose over the lake, Liane began to walk, following the path between the castle and the Quidditch pitch.

After a short while, as Liane rounded the edge of the first tower near the entrance to Hogwarts, she came within sight of the Quidditch pitch and the lawns that led down to it. Standing nearby, on the nearest patch of grass, Liane saw Booker and a boy in yellow-trimmed Hufflepuff robes, standing and staring out over the grounds. She stopped, hesitating while she thought about whether she wanted to head back, before the Hufflepuff boy spotted her and nudged Booker, who turned to look.

"Hey; Liane, right?" he asked, waving at her. Liane nodded.

"Come over here," he said with a smile, and after a brief hesitation, Liane walked over to the two fifth-year boys.

"Liane Langford, Jeremy Price," Booker said, gesturing between them.

"Price? As in Jessica Price?" Liane asked, flinching away, and the boy pulled an apologetic face.

"You've met my sister, then? What do I need to apologise for?" he replied. Liane paused, unsure of what to say.

"She said… Look, it doesn't matter. It's a pleasure to meet you," Liane said, holding out her hand. Jeremy smiled.

"Well, let's call it a blanket apology anyway," he said, taking her hand and shaking it.

"So, you an early riser Liane?" Booker asked. Liane let out a short laugh.

"Not really; couldn't sleep," she replied.

"Well, it's a good habit to get into; Duellers doesn't start until week three, but unlike Quidditch we accept first years. It's an applicable life skill as well," Booker replied.

"Hey, no need for the hard sell; you had me at Duellers, I assume you mean a Duelling Club?" Liane asked.

"Sort of; we teach some one-on-one duelling, but mostly it's a combination self-defense class and conflict survival skills. Sort of, extra practical DADA classes," Jeremy replied.

"Conflict survival? You mean war," Liane said, turning to Booker.

"The Duelling Club was not really the true spiritual ancestor of Duellers; you've heard about Dumbledore's Army?" Booker asked.

"The Hogwarts resistance movement?"

"Exactly; Harry, Ron and Hermione taught their fellow students to fight a war against the most powerful dark wizard to have ever lived, a war they eventually won. The Order of the Phoenix and the original DA have moved on, but students at Hogwarts didn't want to ever have to start from scratch again," Jeremy explained.

"Huh. Clever," Liane replied.

"Yeah, that's the idea. So, you in?" Booker asked. Liane nodded.

"If I'm to do any good at the qualifiers, I'll take whatever help I can get. There's only so much books can teach," she replied. Booker smiled.

"That's true," he said, "so you've already gotten stuck in? You know any spells yet?" he asked.

"A few," Liane replied, shrugging. Jeremy lept forward, drawing his wand, a wide smile on his face.

"Well, come on then first year," he said, holding his arms wide, "show me what you've got. Hit me with the most powerful spell you know, and see if you can get past my guard."

Liane raised an eyebrow.

"You sure?" she asked nervously. Booker clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, Liane; Jeremy is the vice-captain of Duellers, one of the best. He's just playing," he said, before stepping back out of the way. Liane shrugged again, before widening her stance and facing Jeremy. Slowly she eyed up his stance, before she drew her wand, raising it straight in front of her.

Booker's eyes fell on the wand and his smile dropped away.

"Jeremy-" he started, and Jeremy, confused, glanced at Booker.

" _Locomotor wibbley_ ," Liane chanted, and a wide, bright fan of yellow light shot in an arc from the tip of her wand, brushing across Jeremy's legs.

Jeremy's eyes went wide, as his legs first wobbled, then collapsed beneath him.

A loud, hearty laugh rang out behind them, and Liane turned, nearly dropping her wand as she saw the Deputy Headmaster standing at the top of the lawn.

"Well, it was almost worth the fact that you boys provoked a first-year into breaking school rules on the first day to see you taken out by a jelly-legs curse, Price," he said, sauntering down the lawn towards them.

"We were just holding tryouts, professor, for the Duellers," Booker stammered.

"You know as well as I do, _Prefect_ Fauchelevent, that Duellers sessions do not start for another three weeks. Five points each from Slytherin and Hufflepuff; congratulations boys, you've put your houses into the negatives on the first day. Now get back up to the Great Hall for breakfast," he said. Booker moved over to Jeremy and cast the counter-curse, helping him to his feet.

"We'll see you here in three weeks, Liane," Jeremy said with a smile, as he made his way unsteadily past with Booker holding him up.

As they made their way up towards the castle, Professor Longbottom turned back to Liane.

"As for you Miss Langford; no points off for today. But I'd urge you to be careful. Now run along," he said with a smile. Liane nodded, stowed her wand back into her robes, and began to walk back towards the castle.

"Oh, and Liane," Professor Longbottom called out, and Liane stopped and looked back.

"Yes Professor?"

"Nice spellwork," he said, before he turned back and looked out over the lawns, looking just like Booker and Jeremy had.

When Liane returned to the castle, there were already a few students stumbling into the Great Hall for breakfast. Booker and Jeremy were sitting at the Slytherin table along with Wanda and several other students, all from different houses and year levels; other Duellers, Liane supposed.

"Liane!" came a familiar voice, and Liane turned to see Yvette standing at a table near the doors. The table was split into eight, with stacks of paper which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be the set timetables for first and second year students.

"Hey; good morning," Liane said with a smile, walking over.

"And to you. Did you sleep well?" Yvette asked.

Liane turned to the table, locating the first year Slytherin timetable. "No, not really."

"Ah, too excited?"

Liane smiled and looked back up at the other girl. "Yeah, something like that. So, what are your subjects today?" she asked.

"Potions B, Charms A and Defence. You?" Yvette replied.

"Transfiguration A, Charms A and Defence. We'll be sharing two classes," Liane said, looking over her timetable.

"I'm happy to hear that. But look; Defence has no letter next to it, what do you suppose that means?" Yvette asked with a frown.

Liane shrugged. "I don't know; perhaps all the houses have Defence together?"

"That seems to be the case," said a voice behind Liane. The two girls turned to see a young boy in yellow-fringed robes looking over the timetable for Hufflepuff first year. He turned to look at the two of them and waved his timetable in the air.

"See; Potions B, History B and Defence. Flying is the same," he said, pointing out the class slots.

"Interesting. Why do you suppose they did that? If they split them both they could set both classes up with the normal pattern," Liane replied, looking over her timetable with a frown.

"No idea. I suppose we might find out this afternoon. Anyway," said the boy, holding out his hand, "Bertrand Macmillan, friends call me Bertie."

"Liane Langford," Liane said, taking Bertie's hand.

"Yvette Delacroix," Yvette added.

"Delacroix? So you're the daughter of the new Charms professor?" Bertie asked.

" _Oui_ , and you would be the son of the Defence teacher, no?" Yvette replied.

"That's right. What about you, Liane; any family on campus?" Bertie asked. Liane paused.

"No. My father is a muggle, and my mother is… not good with magic. My second-cousin Susan works for the Ministry though," Liane said.

"What division?" Bertie asked, not catching the pause in Liane's voice.

"DMLE?" Liane replied, remembering how Draco Malfoy had phrased it back in Madam Malkin's shop.

"Not Susan Bones? Ah, so that's who you are, the-" Bertie said, before his mouth slammed shut and his face went red. Liane frowned.

"The what?" she asked coolly.

"Nothing; just… People talk, you know, and they're not always kind. I'd heard a little about you already, is all," he said, still blushing furiously.

"I have also heard such things; I have defended you to my fellow Ravenclaws, and I'm sure Cassandra and Mitchell have done the same with those in Gryffindor," Yvette added apologetically.

"Thank you; you shouldn't need to do that. But yeah, I know what's being said, and I fully intend to make every person who looks down on me because of it eat their words," Liane replied.

"Well, before you do; breakfast?" Bertie said, pointing to the tables, which were suddenly covered in heaped plates of hot and cold breakfast foods.

As the Ravenclaw table was nearest, Liane and Bertie sat down with Yvette and began to eat, telling each other stories of their first nights in each of the three houses.

"I can't believe your dorms are so close to the library, Yvette, I'm so jealous!" Liane said, her bacon sandwich almost untouched in front of her.

"I'd trade it all for some quiet; it was nearly four AM by the time Professor Flitwick finally came up and said," Yvette began to mimic a squeaky, high-pitched voice, " _all of you get to bed, right now, or I'll charm you all into silence!_ I swear, there were some willing to push him, but the Prefects stepped in," Yvette said with a yawn.

"You don't have quieting sliders on your beds?" Liane asked, looking alarmed.

"Well, we do, but I couldn't be sure I'd wake up on time if I left it running," Yvette said with a sheepish smile.

"Girl, I am getting you an alarm clock, even if I have to magic one up myself," Liane replied, stifling a laugh.

"I wouldn't trade the Hufflepuff dorms for anything; we're right next to the kitchens and the Prefects have the house elves bringing hot coffee to the common room every morning," Bertie said, wistfully.

"Oh, lame; Slytherin dorms just have pet snakes. I mean, they're funny and all-" Liane said with a shrug.

"Sorry, what? Funny? How are snakes funny?" Bertie asked, confused.

"Yeah, Liane, what's this about funny snakes?" Remy asked, dropping into the seat next to her, their eyes turned bright green and hair a flowing mane of orange, "Scorpius says you were hanging near the cages early this morning."

Liane looked around to find Scorpius, Hannah, Cassandra and Mitchell were all dropping into seats around them, looking at her with interest.

"Um," Liane said, biting her lip, "okay, can I trust you all to stay quiet?"

"Of course," Yvette replied. The others nodded, one-by-one as Liane looked at them. When she got to Bertie, he hesitated a moment, glancing away, before looking Liane in the eye and nodding slowly.

"Okay, now I'm trusting you all. Ideally, this isn't something I would tell anyone, but I get the feeling that this is something you would all likely find out at some point this year anyway; I'm… parselmouth," Liane said, exhaling a deep breath after she finished.

There was a pause for a moment, where no-one said a word. At last the silence was broken by Remy.

"Well, that makes sense."

"What?" Liane exclaimed, turning to them, "what makes you say that?"

Remy shrugged.

"It's not really surprising, if you believe certain rumours. Your wand, Liane; a lot of people said that wand would never be sold. A few of those people said that the only person who it would bond with would be of the line of Salazar Slytherin. After all, it was supposed to be the Heir of Slytherin who could open the Chamber of Secrets and command the Basilisk which now lives on in the core of your wand," they explained.

"So, your theory is that I'm, what, related to You-Know-Who somehow?" Liane asked, wide eyed.

"Not necessarily; Slytherin lived hundreds of years ago, he might have hundreds of heirs. Assuming not all of them became wizards, and assuming only a handful of _those_ came to Hogwarts… It's a rare ability, so two people with the right combination of factors in eighty years is possible, if not probable. It could also be a coincidence, who knows?" Scorpius added, shrugging.

"And you're all okay with this?" Liane asked, turning to Cassandra and Mitchell.

"Er-" Cassandra began, nervously, but Mitchell cut her off.

"We know you, Liane. You're aggressive and self-assured, but you're not evil," he said.

"Just like Slytherin," Scorpius said, sending a sideways glance at the two Gryffindor twins.

"And no-one will say anything?" Liane asked.

"Of course not; that's what friends are for," Remy replied, clapping a hand to Liane's shoulder.

"Thank you. All of you," Liane said with a smile.

"No problem. Now, the important question; what are Anguis and Zmeya like?" Hannah asked, and Liane let out a laugh.

Transfiguration class was first, shared with the Slytherin and Gryffindor, so Liane said goodbye to Bertie and Yvette and went with Scorpius, Remy and Hannah back to the Slytherin dorms to retrieve their books and materials, before reuniting with Cassandra and Mitchell, as well as Albus, at the second-floor classroom marked on their timetables.

"Hey, Albus," Liane said as they approached. Scorpius made a not-so-subtle show of turning his back to chat with Olivia Greengrass, and Albus in return made a non-so-subtle show of ignoring him.

"Hey, Liane, how are you?" he asked.

"Tired; didn't sleep so well. I got a chance to meet some of the Duellers this morning, though, which was fun," Liane replied.

"Oh, you thinking of joining?" Albus asked.

"I think I may have already," Liane said with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"I, uh, hit the vice-captain with a jelly-legs curse," Liane said, laughing a little.

"I'm almost more impressed that you _know_ the jelly-legs curse," Albus remarked, one eyebrow raising.

"I've been reading my schoolbooks over and over almost non-stop since I got them," Liane admitted sheepishly.

"Ha, you're just like my aunt," Albus said, giggling.

"I take that as the highest possible compliment," Liane replied.

As they spoke, a tall, redhaired man appeared at the end of the corridor. He had a dragon tooth earring hanging from his left ear and his face and bare forearms bore a pattern of deep scars.

"Uncle Bill?" Albus exclaimed, surprised.

"It's Professor Weasley here, kid," the man said, ruffling Albus' hair, "alright everyone, inside."

As they shuffled in, Liane turned to Albus.

"You didn't know your uncle taught Transfiguration?" she asked.

"He got the job last year, but he was only teaching years five through seven," Albus replied.

"Well, looks like he's got us. Should be fun."

As they settled in, Liane took a seat between Remy and Hannah, with Albus, Cassandra and Mitchell in front and Scorpius and Olivia behind. Professor Weasley strode down to the front of the room and drew his wand, tapping it to his desk and then his chair, which swiftly and wordlessly transformed into a tall, broad mahogany table and a high backed plush armchair.

"Transfiguration, true transfiguration, is perhaps the hardest magic to master with a wand. A charm, hex, curse or jinx is a mere combination of words and hand movements, and potions are a different beast entirely. But aside from charms that transform, real transfiguration is borne from the mind. Your ability to visualise first the object as it is, then as you wish it to be, and visualise the state of change between the two, is the core of your ability to magically transmit that change onto the object," Professor Weasley said, leaning back against the table. There was silence amongst the students as they absorbed his words; this was not what any were expecting.

Professor Weasley looked down at a piece of paper on the desk.

"Liane Langford; where's Liane?" he called out, and Liane raised her hand.

"Here, professor," she replied.

"Liane; Deputy Headmaster Longbottom tells me you're pretty handy with your wand. If I asked you to turn," he waved his wand and a small lantern appeared on the table, "this lantern into a bird, how would you do it?" he asked.

"Uh, _avifors_ , turns the target into a bird," Liane replied.

Professor Weasley smiled.

"I'm not even going to ask if you can actually _cast_ that spell. But, if I asked for you to turn the lantern into a purple cockatoo with a lime green crest, how would you do it?"

Liane opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped.

"I don't know," she replied, feeling her cheeks redden. There was a chorus of stifled giggles throughout the room, and Liane felt her hackles raise. Before she could say anything, however, Professor Weasley was already speaking again.

"Five points to Slytherin, well done; if you do not know, for absolute certain, how to perform a transfiguration, _don't do it_ ," he said, emphasising the last few words.

"Now, take out your wands; we'll be practising various techniques for visualisation, and you'll need to try them out. Cassandra Munroe, please come to the front and take this box of matchsticks, then pass them out to the class."

"This. Is. Ridiculous!" Liane growled, staring at her completely unchanged matchstick. She had tried all of the visualisation techniques; tried imagining the different states, from matchstick to pin, tried picturing the change, even tried meditating with her wand resting on the matchstick, and nothing had worked.

What was worse was the fact that beside her, their matchstick transmuted almost immediately into an immaculate, long silver hatpin, Remy was chatting with Professor Weasley.

"The visualisation process is almost identical to the natural transformations metamorphmagi have always done," Bill was explaining.

"Yeah, actually, my father bought me this book a few years ago, _Natural Transfiguration_ , it was saying how true transfiguration is actually based off of the metamorphmagus transformation," Remy replied, pushing their pin around their desk with the tip of their wand.

"It's a good piece. If you like, you could maybe spend the rest of class helping other students; Liane here seems to need some guidance," Bill said with a smile, before moving on. Remy looked at Liane as she jabbed her matchstick with her wand.

"Say anything, and I will turn you into a goldfish," Liane growled, and Remy smiled.

"Clearly, you can't, not without falling back on Charms," they replied, "so let's start with something simpler. What's the problem?"

"The problem is this stupid matchstick stubbornly refuses to change."

"The matchstick is a matchstick, Liane, it can't refuse to do anything. The problem is in you. Now I know you can do extremely advanced magic, I've seen it; but this is not something you can practice out of a book with a conductors baton," Remy explained, and Liane turned a glare towards them.

"And how exactly do you propose that I fix that?" she replied.

"Put your wand down, close your eyes," Remy said. Liane hesitated for a moment, looking down at her wand. She felt a strong urge to hold on to it, but she closed her eyes and let go, hearing it clatter to the table.

"Now, focus on my voice. Try to block out any other sounds, listen carefully to the words I'm saying and nothing else.

"Think about the matchstick. Picture it, in your mind; an inch and a half of cheap wood, nothing special. Visualise it, just that and nothing else. Let it fill your mind; my voice, and the matchstick. The matchstick, and my voice. Now, tell me; what is in your mind?"

"Your voice, the matchstick, and a nagging sense that this is a waste of time," Liane responded.

"Banish that thought, Liane, listen to me. Picture the matchstick; what's it made of?"

"Wood."

"Is it? What's a pin made of?"

Liane sighed.

"Metal."

"What's the matchstick made of?"

"Wood."

"What's the pin made of?"

"Metal."

"What's the matchstick made of?"

"Wood."

"What's the matchstick made of?"

"Metal. Wait," Liane started to open her eyes.

"No, stop; pick up your wand and touch it to the matchstick," Remy interjected.

"Without opening my eyes?"

"Yes, now do it!" Remy said. Liane reached out and patted the desk with her hand, finding her wand. She raised it and jabbed it randomly at the desk, thinking hard about the matchstick and the pin.

"Yes! Well, sort of…Good start," Remy said. Liane opened her eyes and looked down at the matchstick, which had turned silvery and shiny, but had failed to change its shape at all.

"See; all in the mind. If you can't do it by dint of hard work, trickery will do the job," Remy said, sitting back. Liane rolled her eyes.

"I was wondering how you got put in Slytherin. Thanks," she said, picking up the matchstick and holding it up for inspection.

As the class wrapped up, Professor Weasley took once more to the front of the classroom.

"Congratulations everyone, on your first attempts. Five points each to Cassandra Munroe, Scorpius Malfoy, Remy Scofield, Domenique Holden, Albus Potter and Peter Lysander for producing perfect pins, and another ten points to Remy Scofield for assisting other students in making significant progress," he said. Remy pumped their fist in the air lazily, and Liane smiled.

"That'll help offset the five points Booker lost this morning," she said, and Remy scowled.

"Homework; before our class on Friday I want ten inches of parchment on the benefits of learning free transfiguration instead of the simpler transfiguring charms. And I expect everyone to be practising during the week," Professor Weasley said, "class is dismissed."

"Come on; you can get your own back in Charms," Remy said with a wry smile, and Liane threw her transfiguration book into her backpack and placed her wand back in her robes.

"It's not about scoring points, Remy; I made a promise to myself that I'd learn everything I could about magic. When I do everything I'm told and it still doesn't work? That gets to me," Liane explained as they made their way out of the classroom.

"Well, I'm happy to tutor you in transfiguration if you promise to help me out if I need it," Remy said. Liane grinned.

"Of course. Now come on; I want to get a seat with Yvette," Liane replied.

Charms class with Professor Flitwick was only a short theory session, and Liane finished the exercises in short order. When she looked up at the end of the paper, she saw Yvette was finishing off the last of the questions as well.

"When you have finished the exercises, you may find a partner and attempt to complete practical spellwork exercise 2a in your textbook," Flitwick instructed the class, and so Liane pulled open her textbook and shifted her seat across beside Yvette.

"Hey," Liane said, flicking through the textbook to find the page.

"Hi, how was transfiguration?" Yvette replied.

"Frustrating. And potions?"

"Equally so. Professor Slughorn may have been a great potions master in the past but he has a habit of falling asleep during class."

Liane smiled.

"Well, I can't say Professor Weasley ever seemed like he was in danger of that. He seems unusually driven; which is funny, when the Potter bio mentioned the Weasley boys it said that Bill Weasley was a curse-breaker for Gringotts," Liane said, confused.

"I'm not sure; anti-curses are slow to test, and curses are quick to trigger, so curse-breaking has often been a…short-lived career," Yvette replied, "perhaps he was able to use transfiguration instead, somehow?"

"Miss Langdon? Miss Delacroix? Have you been able to successfully complete the exercise?" Flitwick asked with a raised eyebrow.

Liane and Yvette both looked down at their textbooks simultaneously, raised their wands and in unison chanted.

" _Frigideiro_."

A shimmer of pale blue light spun like firework trails from the tips of their wands, and the pitcher of water on Flitwick's desk turned to solid ice.

"Well, congratulations, both of you. Five points each to Slytherin and Ravenclaw," Flitwick said, somewhat taken aback, "but please, try to keep the chatter to a minimum; there are other students still trying to study."

"Yes, professor," Liane replied.

When Flitwick turned away, Liane shrugged back into her chair.

"What if… What if that's the thing that makes free transfiguration so powerful? It happens at the subconscious, subverbal level, making it quicker and easier to cast on the spur of the moment?" Liane asked. Yvette nodded.

"It is also the easiest form of non-verbal spellcasting; learning how to do non-verbal charms or hexes is much easier, apparently, if you can perform free transfiguration first," she replied. Liane's eyes widened.

"I didn't think of that. Perhaps it does have some use after all," she mumbled. Yvette turned a critical eye at Liane.

"I'm surprised at you, Liane, thinking any component of magic is useless," she said with a sardonic grin. Liane pulled a scrap of parchment up and began to crunch it into a ball.

"Oh, you know what I mean; I just meant that, well, spellcasting comes pretty easy to me, with a bit of hard work. But while Remy seems to be able to turn matchsticks to pins as easy as blinking," Liane threw the ball of parchment at the back of Remy's head, who turned and flashed the two girls a grin like a cheshire cat, "I have to trick my brain into even the most cursory of changes."

"You'll get there, I'm sure; meanwhile, exercise 2b looks useful," Yvette said, pulling up her wand.

After lunch, Liane made her way to the north side of the castle, where on the ground floor she found a gigantic lecture hall, suitable for seating the entirety of a year level, the stage below a wide practice area.

"Wow, this place is massive," Liane marvelled, looking at the high, vaulted ceilings.

"It's not been used in decades," Albus said, coming in behind her, "in ancient times Hogwarts used to be the only school for magic in Europe, and the classes all used to look like this. When the populations started dropping, starting with Grindelwald and through to the second war, these rooms were locked up, no longer needed."

"Wow, look at you, mister exposition. Where'd you find out about all that? It wasn't in _Hogwarts: A History_ that's for sure," Liane said with a raised eyebrow, moving with Albus down to a row of seats roughly halfway down the auditorium.

"There's a lot more to the castle than one book will tell you. Auntie Hermione has more than a few stories to tell," Albus replied with a slight blush.

"Well, I can't begrudge you that, I suppose," Liane said with a shrug. As they took their seats, all of the others coming and sitting with them, carefully oriented so that Scorpius and Albus were sitting as far away from each other as they could, Bertie slid down in his seat, his textbook held upright in front of him. Liane frowned for a moment, before she realised.

"Oh yeah, that's right; this is the class your dad is teaching, isn't it Bertie?" she said, and Bertie sunk lower into his chair.

"Look, he knows what he's doing, he's just… Not the most circumspect," Bertie replied.

"You think he's going to call you pet names in class?" Remy asked, balancing a ball of parchment on the tip of their wand that Liane recognised as the one she'd thrown at them during Charms.

"More like drag me down the front to demonstrate counter-jinxes," Bertie said, his book falling to his chest.

"Given the look of this stage, I'd say we're all in for a bit of that," Hannah said.

"Good; I could use some exercise," Liane said, pulling out her Defence book and her wand.

"From anyone else, that would sound so innocent," Cassandra said, frowning. Liane rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you know what I mean."

As the room filled up, Professor Macmillan took to the stage, conjuring a table and chair as he walked across the apron from the small stairs to the other end of the room, followed by a younger man who looked more like a student than a professor. When his papers were in order, he turned back to the room and stood, silent for a moment, watching as the final few stragglers found their way inside and took their seats. When everyone had arrived, there was a long pause as the Professor looked around the room.

After the silence became almost deafening, he began to speak.

"Who can tell me the number one threat to a witch, wizard or magus, who is conscious, has their wand in their hand and their eyes on their opponent?" Professor Macmillan asked aloud, his voice filling the room. There was silence for a moment as the students looked at him, dazed.

"Come now, it's not hard. Let's see; Albus Potter, you would know the answer, surely?" Professor Macmillan asked, turning to look up at the blushing Gryffindor.

"Uh," he said, softly, before clearing his throat. "A dark wizard."

"Close. Very close. But you are unlikely, in truth, to find yourself facing a truly _dark_ witch or wizard, although for racial sensitivity concerns we will try and restrict ourselves to saying the word evil. But yes; the only thing that can threaten you is another person with a wand, and they've got the drop on you. So to truly, completely give you the skills to protect yourself from the quote unquote _dark_ arts, we have only one option; teach you how to deal with other spellcasters. Once we've done that, it won't matter whether you know to break a Grindylow's grip or bow to a Kappa; you'll have the skills to get out of danger.

"Now, find yourself a partner, and come down onto the stage."

Liane looked up, her eyebrows raised in surprise, to see a similar expression on most of the other students. Scorpius and Hannah were already out of their seats, and Remy and Yvette were right behind them. Liane turned to see who was free, and found Mitchell looking at her.

"Hey, you want to pair up?" Liane asked.

"Yeah, if that's alright; we haven't had a chance to hang out since your birthday," he replied. Liane smiled.

"Of course," she said, and they made their way down to the stage.

"Okay everyone, get into two lines, facing your partner. Mister Donovan, please come to the middle," Professor Macmillan said, and the older boy walked into the space between the two lines.

"Mister Alastor Donovan is my seventh-year Student Teacher Assistant; if you have any defence class related questions you can seek out his assistance, and he offers tutoring on Wednesday and Friday afternoons," the Professor explained.

"Today, we will be teaching the most basic defence; blocking. Now we want to make sure this is safe, so we'll spend the first half of the class looking at a simple hex that's easy to learn and produces nothing more painful than a sharp pinch. But first, we'll demonstrate. Are you ready, Donovan?" Professor Macmillan asked.

"Ready professor," replied the student.

"Then let's begin," the professor said, raising his wand. Donovan raised his own wand, and the two dropped into duelling stances.

"Now, for the first example, we will show you how the standard block works against a single-directional spell. Mister Donovan, if you please?"

Donovan took a step forward, his arm flinging out across his body, the tip already glowing orange as soon as the first syllable sprang from his lips.

" _Incendio_ ," he called, and a bright flare of orange, flaming light streamed down the length of the stage towards Professor Macmillan. Just before it struck, the professor's wand arm flicked outward, the tip meeting the spell in midair. With a circular flick, the professor's wand went off to the side, and the spell was completely dissipated.

"The goal here, in this situation, is to catch the spell on the _tip_ of the wand. Before the spell triggers, you need to spread the concentration of magic far enough to break the bonds holding the spell together. The more powerful the spell, the more movement on the block," Professor Macmillan explained, "for example; Mister Donovan, the pinching hex please."

Donovan nodded.

" _Pin-cha_ ," he chanted, stabbing his wand forward. A small, gleaming ball of turquoise light launched towards the professor, who popped it with the tip of his wand, barely moving the tip at all.

"As you can see, the weaker spell takes less effort to block, once the initial contact is made. But," said the professor, as he and Donovan traded stances, "as you no doubt are aware, not all spells are cast in such neat little balls. Some areas of effect are much broader, and require differing blocking techniques. For example; _locomotor mortis_." A broad fan of hazy forest green light swept outward from the professor's wand towards the seventh-year student.

Instead of trying to catch the spell on the tip of his wand, Donovan swung his arm around in a broad arc, swiping the edge of his wand across the line of effect. A bright build up of light coalesced on the tip of his wand, before bursting like a soap bubble.

"In this case, the theory is reversed; the spell is already covering a wider area, so when gathered up in the manner Mister Donovan just presented, the spell implodes and fails.

"Now, we will not be spending too much time on the second form for now. Mister Donovan and I will go up and down the line teaching the pinching hex, and then we will begin work on blocking."

Liane looked down at her wand, held by her side. At this moment, more so than any time before, it felt _heavy_. Over a foot long, and made of a dense, heavy wood, it more than dwarfed those of her fellow students; it loomed over them. Suddenly, Liane was not so sure it was a good thing; the weight was a reassurance when she cast spells, the feeling of power behind the swing, but looking across at Mitchell, she began to feel worried.

"Miss Langford," Professor Macmillan said, coming to Liane as Donovan reached Mitchell, "lets see how well you can do with the pinching hex, so you and mister Munroe can practice blocking. The format is pretty simple; hold the wand parallel to the ground, pointed towards your target, thrust it forward, and the incantation is _Pin-Cha_ , with the force of the pronunciation on the en and chuh sounds. Now, give it a try," he said.

Liane held up her wand, her finger muscles, having long been exercised through years of piano playing, were straining as she tried to get the wand level with the ground. She looked at Professor Macmillan and thrust her wand forward.

" _Pin-cha,_ " Liane chanted, and the turquoise blue bubble launched from the tip and flew at the professor, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Ow," Professor Macmillan exclaimed, rubbing a hand on his shoulder, "well done, Liane; it seems rumours of your skill with spellcasting were not without merit. Okay, now try with mister Munroe, and see whether you're able to block it consistently. One after the other," he said, before moving on to the next set of partners.

Liane looked over to Mitchell, to see Donovan moving on as well. Mitchell was looking across at Liane, with a serious expression on his face unlike anything she'd seen on him before.

"You ready?" he asked. Liane nodded.

"You first," she replied.

Mitchell raised his wand and thrust forward, sending the blue bubble at Liane. She raised her wand, trying to catch it with the tip, but moved just too slow, catching the hex on her forearm.

"Ow, damn it," she muttered, rubbing her arm. She looked over at Mitchell, and saw him staring at her expectantly. Raising her wand again, she took aim at her friend.

" _Pin-cha_ ," she cried, and the turquoise bubble that launched from her wand raced across at Mitchell at nearly twice the speed as the one he had cast.

Mitchell fell back a step, his wand flung out in front of him, his other arm covering his face, but Liane saw the wand-tip actually graze the bubble before it struck him on the side of his hand.

"Ah!" Mitchell yelped, nearly dropping his wand. He looked over at Liane and grinned.

"Well, I can't say I didn't expect something like this," he said. Liane's face split into a responding smile, and she lifted her wand up in front of her face.

"Stop talking and let's do this," she replied.

After an hour of practice, many of the students, bruised and battle-worn, had returned to the seats, watching as those still left fired round after round of pinching hexes at each other, most readily blocking. A fair number, however, were watching with combinations of smiles and concern as Liane sent increasingly more powerful pinching hexes at Mitchell, who readily parried every one. Liane, meanwhile, had abandoned her robes, rolled up her sleeves, done everything she could to reduce the weight on her arms, and still was covered in bruises. There were even bruises on her other arm and face, from where out of exhaustion she had simply taken the hex without even attempting to block.

"Okay, you two, that's enough," Professor Macmillan called out, stepping in between the two of them.

"Things would be a lot different if this were a proper duel," Liane said, her breath ragged. Professor Macmillan raised an eyebrow.

"I can't honestly believe if you were in a duel you would be fighting mister Munroe, Liane, and so your inability to defend yourself against basic spells seems moot. But I'll humour you, Miss Langford, were we to relax the conditions of the scenario, how would you defend yourself?" he asked.

Liane started to raise her wand, but the effort was almost too much, and her arm fell to her side once more.

"Mister Donovan; please assist Miss Langford in presenting for the class how she believes this situation would be different in a "proper" duel," Professor Macmillan asked.

Donovan stepped forward, raising his wand towards Liane.

" _Flipendo_."

" _Prismatis,"_ Liane said, raising her wand in front of her. A crystalline prism dome of translucent red panels appeared around Liane as a cone of wind, filled with the fluttering of sky-blue snowflakes, crashed into it. There was a moment as the dome held, before cracks began to form in the panels under the onslaught, before finally shattering. The last remnant of the knockback spell crashed into Liane's chest, and she was knocked off her feet.

"We'll call it even, Miss Langford; the points I would have scored for the impressive spellwork can balance out the ones I would have taken off for your poor attitude. Let that be a lesson to everyone; you cannot win if you are too busy blaming others for your failures," the professor said, turning to the rest of the room. He then turned back to Liane, who was pushing herself upright.

"Go and sit back down, Miss Langford," he said, before turning and walking back to assist other students. As she struggled to her feet, Donovan came over and helped her up.

"Hey, sorry about that," he said, holding out a hand for her to take.

"It's nothing; you're just doing what you're told, I get that," Liane replied.

"But?"

"But...I guess I'm just annoyed. He makes out like I just wasn't trying hard enough. It's not like it's my fault this thing is so heavy," she said, lifting her wand.

"It's just practise. Jeremy and Booker told me you're going to join the Duellers; I'm the captain. We'll get you up to speed, I promise," Donovan said, patting her on her shoulder.

"Thanks; I appreciate that," she replied.

As Liane limped across the stage, Mitchell moved to join her.

"Mister Munroe," Professor Macmillan called, "come over here, and keep practising with Bertrand."

Mitchell sent an apologetic glance across at Liane, before moving over to join Bertie.

Liane collapsed into a seat next to Cassandra and Yvette, turning her wand on herself.

" _Episkey_. Well, that was embarrassing," she muttered.

"It's not been a fantastic first day for you, has it Liane?" Cassandra asked.

"Not excessively, no. I was sort of expecting defence to be like charms, I expected it to be sort of my thing. Who knew there was more to being a witch than casting spells?" Liane replied wryly.

"If that were the case, would there be seven years of full-time school?" Yvette replied, and Liane nodded.

"True. I'm going to head to the library after class; you girls in?" Liane asked.

"Can't; Gryffindor prefects are hosting a bit of a party, welcoming in the new students, etcetera," Cassandra replied.

"I'll be there; Bertie and I are going over potions homework," Yvette replied.

"Great; I'm going to get a start on the transfiguration paper," Liane said, and the three of them turned back to watch the stage in silence. Bertie and Mitchell were trading spells, neither one landing a blow, while around them even Remy, Scorpius and Albus were wearing down. Hannah and Olivia had also already moved back to the seats, leaving only one girl left back up on the stage, a red-haired Ravenclaw girl trading blows with Albus.

"Who's she?" Liane asked, looking over at Yvette.

"Rose Weasley," she replied, and Liane turned back to look. Sure enough, now that she looked closely, the girl looked familiar; Liane had met her briefly in Diagon Alley.

"She's good," Liane remarked, watching as Rose turned a parry into a counter-attack in one movement.

"She's the daughter of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, she'd better be," Cassandra replied.

"That's hardly fair; Scorpius and Albus are barely keeping up. Don't do the girl a disservice by reducing her to her parentage," Liane replied.

"Or by placing too high expectations on her, for that matter," Yvette added.

"Either way, though," Liane said, nodding, "she is good. Someone I would be keeping an eye on when the Olympiad qualifiers come around."


	6. Chapter 6: Fight or Flight

Chapter 6: Fight or Flight

After dinner that evening, Liane returned to the Slytherin common room, deep in thought. Her first day of classes had disillusioned her quite considerably on how easy Hogwarts would be with a studious attitude and a voracious reading ability. Looking out into the room as she entered, Liane caught sight of Booker and Wanda sitting down on the couches near the doorways to the dorms. Remembering what Donovan had said during defence class, she hurried down the steps and rushed across towards them.

"Hey, uh, Booker?" she asked, approaching the couch. The two prefects turned towards her.

"Hi there, Liane; how was class?" Booker asked.

"Uh, not great, actually; that's what I came over to ask about. I met Alastor Donovan at defence, he seems to have accepted your recommendation to accept me into Duellers," she said. Out of the corner of her eye, Liane noticed Wanda turning a surprised glance towards Booker.

"You were impressive," Booker said, and Liane shrugged.

"I wasn't really, certainly not during class."

"Not from what I hear; you cast a prism shield charm, managed to hold off against Donovan's knockback jinx for almost three whole seconds," Booker interrupted, "and you hit Jeremy with a jelly-legs curse. Pretty impressive for a first-year, let alone your first day."

"Meanwhile I can't block to save myself and transfiguration gives me no end of frustration," Liane added.

"You're selling yourself short, no-one expects perfection. So what can I help you with?" Booker asked.

"Well, Duellers doesn't start until the twenty-first, but the qualifiers are only two weeks after that. I was wondering if you'd help me...get a head start," Liane said.

"You're applying?" Wanda asked.

"Of course she is. I'm sorry, Liane, my schedule is packed. As of tomorrow I start a three-week research project with Professor Weasley," Booker replied. Liane deflated.

"Oh. No, that's alright, thanks anyway," she said, shrugging. As she turned around, Wanda spoke up.

"Wait; you, first-year, stop," she said, before turning to Booker, "are you sure she's worth it?"

Booker shrugged. "From everything I've seen and heard, I think so," he replied.

Wanda turned to Liane. "I could instruct you, if you are willing to work hard."

Liane nodded.

"Then meet me here during the free period friday afternoon, and we'll see what you are made of."

"Thank you, so much; I promise, I will put the work in," Liane replied, her face lighting up.

"Don't get too excited, Liane; Wanda is a hard taskmistress," Booker said with a smile.

"Good. I wouldn't ask for anything less," Liane said with a nod, before heading off to her dorm.

She was still smiling when she stepped inside the dorm room, and was therefore taken by completely by surprise when a hand grabbed her by the back of her neck, swinging her bodily around and smacking her face into the wall. Liane heard her skull crack and her eyes were suddenly filled with something hot and wet; it took her until the smell hit her that she realised it was blood. The hand moved from her neck to her shoulder, spinning her around and pinning her to the wall.

"How _dare_ you?" came the vicious, hissing voice of Jessica Price.

"What is your-" Liane started.

"Shut up. How _dare_ you attack a member of my family, you disgusting piece of filth," Jessica spat, and Liane felt the tip of the other girl's wand touch to her throat. Liane pulled out her own wand, pressing it to Jessica's stomach, but the other girl laughed.

"Don't even pretend you have the nerve to do anything to me in here, you vile mudblood. Now listen to me; you go _near_ my brother again, and you won't walk out of this dorm again," she growled, and Liane felt her arm go limp. As the blood in her eye trickled away, Liane peered upwards, and saw another figure standing behind Jessica, their wand out. As Jessica pulled her own wand away from Liane's throat, Liane dropped to the ground, her legs as weak as her arm.

Liane let out a cough, which turned into a laugh.

"You're...so...pathetic," she coughed. Liane looked up to see Jessica raising her wand again.

" _Thermosangua_ ," Jessica growled, and Liane felt her head split open with a terrible burning, the pain spearing behind her eyes. After a minute or two of horrifying pain, Liane blacked out.

* * *

Liane opened her eyes to the sight of white curtains and cream-coloured ceiling. Her head throbbed, and her body felt weak.

"Hey, you're awake," Hannah said, from a seat beside Liane.

Liane turned her head, catching sight of Hannah.

"What happened?" she croaked.

"I found you, bloody and passed out, on the dorm floor," Hannah replied.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that," Liane said weakly, smiling as she turned away.

"Miss Langford," came a voice from the other side of the curtain. Liane and Hannah looked up as Professor Longbottom and Professor Slughorn entered.

"Professor," Liane replied, struggling to sit upright before falling back into bed.

"I must say, Miss Langford, even Harry Potter never managed to make it to the Hospital Wing on his first day. I would call it a record, except I remember hearing tell of a young student who tripped on his way to the Sorting Hat and cracked his head on the stool," Professor Longbottom said, his expression betraying his apparently jovial attitude.

"Darn," Liane said with a grin, "here I was thinking I'd get a place in Hogwarts history."

"Miss Langford, I assure you this is not a laughing matter," Professor Slughorn admonished.

"We have to ask, Liane; what happened?" Professor Longbottom asked. Liane looked up at the two professors, thinking about what Jessica had done, and the other person in the room who had helped. Then she thought about Hannah's warning from the previous night, and of the trouble she would be inviting into her life were she to say anything.

"I don't know," Liane said, "I really don't. Maybe I slipped, hit my head on the wall?"

"Miss Powell says she found you on your back, and yet Madam Pomfrey says that your wounds were dealt to your forehead. She also says that the skin around your wound shows signs of acid burns, not something we normally attribute to an accident. Now are you _sure_ you don't know who is responsible?" Professor Longbottom asked.

Liane looked at Hannah, but the other girl refused to meet her gaze.

"I'm certain, professor; I have no idea how I ended up like this."

"I see. and you, Miss Powell; do you have any idea who might have been responsible for Miss Langford's sudden ailment?" Professor Longbottom asked, turning to Hannah. Hannah finally met Liane's eyes, but didn't turn to face the professor when she spoke.

"No professor; I have no idea," she said quietly.

"Well, I'll leave you to rest. Madam Pomfrey says that you ought to be fine after a night in the hospital wing. I expect Professor Flitwick will be looking forward to a practical Charms class with you tomorrow," Professor Longbottom said, before turning and walking back out through the curtains. Professor Slughorn turned a critical eye to back to the bed.

"I do trust you are not going to bring any black marks against the reputation of Slytherin, girls; if you remember anything, please come and speak to me," he said, before following the deputy headmaster out of the room. The two girls sat in silence for a moment, listening to the movements of Madam Pomfrey outside the privacy curtain.

"I didn't touch her," Liane said quietly.

"I know. When she came out of the dorms grinning like that, I thought something was up. I went in and found you, and I called Olivia and Wanda to come and help me carry you out. They kept asking what happened, but I didn't say anything to them either," Hannah said, her voice catching. Liane turned and looked at Hannah.

"I merely said that to let you know that next time, I will not hold back. If she tries that again, I will hit her with everything I've got," she growled. Hannah's eyes widened.

"No, Liane you can't!" she exclaimed.

"Hannah, I'm sorry, but she's raised the stakes. I will not go after her, but if she goes after me again, she's going to have to deal with whatever I do to defend myself," Liane said, before relaxing back onto the pillow. Hannah sat for a moment, before standing up. As Hannah walked over to the gap between the curtains, Liane called out to her.

"Hannah."

"Yes?"

Liane turned her head towards Hannah.

"Who was it with Jessica in the dorm?"

Hannah frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"There was someone else there; when I drew my wand, they cast some kind of spell on me, made my limbs go limp, like an all-body jelly legs curse. I've skimmed through the standard spellbooks for all seven year levels, and I've never heard of it," Liane said.

"Neither have I. Liane, I don't know who else was there; no-one was with Jessica when she came out, and I saw no-one on my way to the dorm. Whoever it was, they must have hidden in the bathroom or one of the other dorms. I'm sorry," Hannah said, before slipping out through the curtains.

Liane rolled over onto her side, staring at the curtain.

Whoever it was supporting Jessica Price's reign of terror, they weren't a first year. Which meant even if it came down to it, Liane wasn't sure she'd survive fighting back.

Liane was woken early the next day by Madam Pomfrey, who hurried her out of bed and out of the hospital wing at seven in the morning. Heading down to breakfast, Liane glanced briefly at the Slytherin table, before looking around for somewhere, anywhere else to sit. She spotted Yvette sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Bertie, and walked over to them.

"Liane! Hannah told us what had happened; are you alright?" Yvette asked, as Liane sat down.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Liane replied.

"What happened?" Bertie asked.

Liane paused, looking around.

"Can you promise not to say anything?" she asked. Bertie's eyebrows rose.

"Merlin, what is it with you? Two mornings in row you're swearing us to secrecy," he muttered. Liane sank in her chair.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just..these things keep happening, and I could be putting myself in a lot of danger if you go and talk about it with anyone else."

"It's okay, Liane; you can trust us," Yvette said.

"It was Jessica Price. She's a blood purist, and her brother was the Dueller vice captain I hexed yesterday. This was some twisted, hate-crime fuelled effort of revenge," Liane said quietly.

"And you told the teachers that?" Bertie asked.

"No, I couldn't. Her father is the head of the Department of Education in the Ministry, if I cause a stink I could get myself expelled. Or worse; there was someone else there, someone I couldn't identify. Someone who could cast some pretty powerful magic," Liane explained.

"Still-" Bertie began.

"Still nothing; I can't afford to run my mouth off. Please, guys; just let me get through this my way," Liane pleaded.

"If you say so. But Liane, if anything happens again, you need to balance the _possibility_ of running into trouble with the Ministry versus the definite hell of spending seven years with someone like that," Bertie answered.

"We'll see," Liane conceded.

"Double charms this morning, though; that ought to cheer you up?" Yvette said with a smile.

"Yes; it will be nice to enter a class and not be riotously humiliated," Liane replied.

"Come on; you were actually pretty impressive in defence. You took way more hits than anyone else by nearly double and didn't quit until you were told to," Bertie said.

"Yes, because that's how I want to be known, not for academia but as the year level's biggest punching bag."

"Hey, it's something," Bertie said, throwing a croissant across the table at Liane, who deflected it with her arm, laughing.

"Hey Hufflepuff; if you want to start throwing breakfast around the room, do it at your own table," came a voice behind Liane, and she turned to see Rose Weasley further down the table, her hand still cupped to her mouth.

"If I do, Weasley, it's heading for you," Bertie yelled back.

"Don't you dare!"

Liane shifted around to look back that way clearer.

"Hey Weasley, well done yesterday; you were pretty amazing," she called out. Rose frowned in confusion, looking a little taken aback.

"Uh, thanks," she replied.

"Don't mention it; you trying out for the Olympiad?" Liane asked.

"Maybe. I don't know, hadn't really thought about it," Rose answered.

"Well, given what I've seen, I'd say you have a pretty good shot."

Rose smiled.

"Thanks, Liane; I saw you in Charms yesterday, you're not too bad yourself."

Liane's grin widened.

"Coming from you, that means a lot," she said, and Rose nodded, before turning back to join a conversation with her friends.

"What was that about?" Yvette asked.

"I said I would keep an eye on her, didn't I?" Liane replied.

"True, although you were a step short of asking her out," Bertie said with a sly grin.

"Shut up," Liane said, throwing half the ballistic croissant back across the table, "I'm new to this whole political thing. If I'm right, and I would put down money that I am, that girl is going to be on the first-year Olympiad team, and if I want to be on it too, I will need to be able to work with her."

"Well, then you better get practising," Bertie said, picking a piece of bacon from the tureen on the table.

"Trust me, I have that under control," Liane replied.

"Charms casting is the most varied, versatile and effective tool in your magical toolbox; it is the simplest to learn and the hardest to master. You may achieve great things with transfiguration or potions, but charms will be with you every day," Flitwick said to the assembled Slytherins and Ravenclaws.

"Among the most basic and most useful of these tools is levitation; to raise and move objects through the air. There are many ways to create these effects, but of those one has the simplest incantation and the most effective result. Who would like to tell the class what that is?" Flitwick asked. Liane raised her hand, and noticed that among the other students also with their hands raised both Yvette and Rose were amongst them.

"Miss Weasley?" Flitwick asked, turning to Rose.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," Rose replied.

"Excellent work; and impeccable pronunciation as well. And, let's see; Miss Delacroix, could you present for the class the correct wand movements for the Wingardium Leviosa spell?"

Yvette stood up and drew her wand. Holding the wand out, she looked at her textbook, and moved her arm in a wide, swishing movement, and began the incantation.

" _Wingardium-_ " she began, before flicking her wand towards her textbook, finishing with " _Leviosa._ "

As she raised her wand, a little at a time, the textbook rose with it, lifting into the air.

"Oh, well done, Miss Delacroix. Ten points to Ravenclaw, for the exceptional efforts of Miss Weasley and Miss Delacroix. Now, everyone, we will be attempting to replicate the movement you just saw; a swish on the upwards inflection, and a flick on the downwards inflection. Swish and flick," Flitwick said, before turning his own wand on a box of feathers, which underwent an extraordinarily well choreographed explosion, depositing one feather on each student's desk.

Liane sat back for a moment and watched as the rest of the class began waving their wands around, trying to get their feathers to fly.

She'd gone over the movements for the spell in the week between her birthday and the train, and was fairly sure she could cast it without trouble. Instead she looked around, trying to gauge who else might be competition in the upcoming qualifiers. It filled her with some small measure of pleasure that Jessica and her cadre of followers were failing to get the feather to move an inch. Remy, Scorpius and Yvette were strong contenders, as were another first year Slytherin girl named Domenique Holden. Based on the results of the defence class, Liane was also putting Bertie, the Munroe twins and Peter Lysander of Gryffindor in the mix, as well as Albus. Eleven hopefuls, just from what Liane had seen, for a five person team.

"Miss Langford, care to show the class your attempt at the spell?" Professor Flitwick asked, breaking Liane from her reverie.

Liane looked down at her feather.

"Um, sure," she said, picking up her wand. Rolling her wrist, Liane began the movements, swishing and flicking her heavy wand towards the delicate little feather.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," she chanted, and felt the familiar flicker of magic up her arm. She lifted her wand, but the feather remained immobile.

"Perhaps, Miss Langford, less daydreaming and more practising will-" Flitwick began, but stopped when Liane wrenched her arm upwards. Instead of the feather, Liane's entire desk rose into the air, sending her book and her feather flying.

"Well, perhaps work on your aim, next time, Miss Langford. Still, impressive work, nonetheless; five points to Slytherin," Flitwick said, a touch reproachfully, "now, please, put your desk down."

History of Magic, Liane was surprised to find, was actually an extraordinarily fascinating class; perhaps a carry-on from her long-time fascination with History borne from her father's occupation as a teacher. Professor Hogan had begun the class with more recent history, however.

"Following the second wizarding war, many new ghosts had joined the ranks of the Hogwarts _chorus sans corpus_ , students and teachers lost in the fighting. Those that returned were met with the gruesome and persistent reminder of lost friends, and so a decision was reached, after much debate, to exorcise Hogwarts of all its ghostly occupants. Necromancers were brought in by the Department of Education to assist in the passing on of many figures who had called Hogwarts a home for many years longer dead than they ever had alive; Sir Nicholas "Nearly-Headless Nick" de Mimsy Porpington, the Bloody Baron, the Grey Lady, the Fat Friar and Peeves the Poltergeist amongst them, as well as the previous incumbent of my current role, Professor Percival Binns," the professor explained.

"Professor," asked a girl in Hufflepuff, Alicia Pearson, "why did they have to get rid of all of the ghosts?"

"Well, the specifics of magics related to the undead are not available until you have achieved your O. , but suffice to say it's not a simple process to exorcise a ghost in the first place. However, it _is_ a matter of historical record that the ghosts of Hogwarts were consulted on the decision. Many of those that were not bound to the stones of the castle chose to relocate, but of those who remained the argument went on for three days. Of those arguing against the exorcism, Peeves the Poltergeist and the Bloody Baron of Slytherin house remarkably put aside their differences to oppose the action, but the remaining House ghosts had the majority behind them," Professor Hogan explained.

"Nevertheless; this has meant that a large amount of Hogwarts' living history, pun not intended, has become unavailable. Which will lead us to our first assignment, which we will begin officially begin in our double tomorrow afternoon; choose a figure from the last hundred years of magical history to present twenty inches of parchment on in biography," he said, sitting himself down at the desk at the front of the room, "you may use the remainder of this class to look through your textbooks and choose a topic figure to present."

The remainder of the week passed without incident, although Liane was surprised to find that the addition of a first year Muggle Studies unit was in fact simply a continuation of what would have been her muggle education, crammed into a single class. She was pleased also to find out that she was not a terrible flyer; on Thursday afternoon, all four houses saw their first years assemble on the Quidditch pitch, twin lines of a dozen each Comet 220s racing brooms, each looking like they may have been new in the nineteen eighties.

Coming out to meet them was an older woman who appeared to be in her seventies, albeit still strong and healthy-looking, and a man in his thirties who walked onto the pitch with a touch of swagger.

Liane sidled over towards Albus and the Munroe twins, pointing at the two approaching figures.

"Who are they? That guy's too old to be an STA," she asked.

"Who, Wood?" Cassandra asked, surprised, before catching herself, "sorry, Liane, I sometimes forget you only just recently got into the world of wizardry."

"That's Madam Hooch and Oliver Wood; Wood was the former Gryffindor Quidditch captain and played for Puddlemere United for a decade, bringing them to the finals of the British A-League," Albus explained.

"And he's working here?" Liane asked. Albus shrugged.

"He's been out of the country for a while, so I don't really know. Looks like it," he replied.

When Madam Hooch arrived at the rows of broomsticks, Wood continued on to the broomstick storage sheds.

"Right everyone," Madam Hooch called out, "when I call your name, come and stand near a broom and await further instructions."

After the first twenty-four names were called, Oliver Wood returned from the sheds with another broomstick, of significantly higher quality.

While the rest of the group moved across to the other side of the field to sit on the grass, Oliver and the first group of students took to the air, beginning to float in rough circles as the less confident flyers got their bearings.

"So," Remy said and they, Bertie and Yvette dropped down next to Liane and Albus, "you worked it out yet?"

Liane frowned. "Worked out what?" she asked.

"Worked out why we're all having flying together instead of spread out. Why we're allowed to just sit and watch?" Remy asked.

"Do you know what they're on about?" Liane asked, looking to the others.

"It's a theory," Bertie said feebly.

"A good one," Remy retorted.

"A...Plausible one," Yvette added, "that first years are being allowed to guage the best flyers in our year before the qualifiers. Remy thinks flying will be a part of the trials."

Liane turned to look up at the first group, who were still drifting around in circles only a few dozen metres from the ground, and narrowed her eyes.

"It's a guess, but yeah, I can see how that might make sense. Certainly nothing awe-inspiring at the moment," she replied.

"Yeah, but that's because Albus hasn't gotten up there yet," Cassandra said, giving her housemate a soft punch in the shoulder, "as the son of the youngest seeker ever to fly for Gryffindor and the seeker for the Holyhead Harpies, he's practically a legacy."

"Come off it," Albus said, blushing.

"Well, I guess we'll see. Who knows; Scorpius might be the best flyer in our year," Liane said with a smile, falling back into the grass. Albus' face fell.

"That's not funny," he replied.

After the first group landed, none showing any real promise, the second group took to the air, Yvette amongst them. Liane watched her friend fly the figure-eight without much issue, although she was not amongst the small group that followed Oliver Wood up towards the castle to do more intricate flight trials around the towers. When Wood finally returned to pick up the next group, only one students had managed to keep up with him, Hufflepuff student Freddy Dodgson.

When group three went up, Liane counted out who was left.

"L through P is one group," she said, turning to the others as Yvette sat back down.

"So we'll see for certain who is the superior flier," Cassandra said with a smile.

"I dunno; Dodgson's pretty ace," Bertie said, looking over at his housemate.

"So we might have flying aces in all four houses; well, except Ravenclaw," Liane said, playfully throwing a handful of grass at Yvette.

"I'm not planning on getting up there again, so I'm not going to take offence at that. Don't forget Rose though; her father was also a Quidditch player," Yvette replied.

"Yeah, a Keeper," Cassandra replied, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, that's my uncle you're talking about," Albus replied.

"Sorry," she replied.

The third group had only two fliers join Wood up nearer to the castle, and both pulled back early.

"Langford L, Leeds P, Light C, Lorde G, Lustrum A, Macmillan B, Malfoy S, May H, Munroe C, Munroe M, Myers G, Nancy C, Newton D, Norsson D, Nuttle T, Ogden B, Oppenheimer J, Parson T, Pascall W, Pascall E, Peterson T, Potter A, Powell H and Price J," Madam Hooch called out, and the fourth group made their way over to the waiting broomsticks.

Liane took her place at the head of the line, thankful to be as far from Jessica as she could get.

"Right, now students; I want to emphasise that this class will brook absolutely zero funny-business. Anyone found to be interfering with another student's broom will face the immediate threat of suspension. Am I clear?"

"Yes Madam Hooch," the students chorused.

"Now; place your right hand over the broomstick and say 'up'. When you are able to command the broom to your hand, mount it in the fashion Mister Wood is displaying," Madam Hooch ordered.

Liane looked down at the broom, and held her hand out over it. Already she could hear Albus' voice, and when she looked over he, Scorpius and Mitchell all had their brooms in their hands already. Looking back down at the broom, Liane straightened her hand.

"Up," she cried, and the broomstick bounced into the air. The aim wasn't entirely on point, and Liane had to throw her hand out further to catch it. Looking back around she found to her delight that she'd caught hers before Jessica, although it was not overlong before the entire group got hold of their brooms. Mounting the broomsticks in the same manner as Oliver Wood, the group pushed themselves into the air, rising up to about the height of the spectator stands.

Liane found, to her satisfaction, that she was actually fairly capable at flying; when Oliver began the group flying in circles Liane found herself gravitating to the outside of the group, moving faster than those in the middle, keeping more or less pace with Cassandra. As expected, there was a small cadre of fliers even further out than her; Bertie, Mitchell, Ravenclaws Gabriella Lorde and Erica Pascall, and at the very edge of the ring, speeding around, were Albus and Scorpius, neck and neck.

"Okay, fliers; if you're confident, move into a figure eight formation. If not, head back down to the ground," Oliver Wood called out, before leading the circle out into the new shape. Three students began to spin out on their first attempt, and within short order the group was cut practically in half.

When Cassandra peeled away, Liane, startled, began to drop lower as well, when she realised that she was actually not having any difficulties. Above her, Albus had pulled ahead of Scorpius, and Oliver Wood was watching them both with a smile. As she watched, Liane spotted Jessica pull past her, a vicious glare on the other girl's face.

Liane glared back, and crouching lower to her broomstick she rose back up into the air, speeding passed Jessica and coming up in line with Bertie.

"Hey, wasn't expecting you," he said as he swerved closer.

"Yes, well; couldn't let you all keep showing me up," Liane replied.

After a short while, Oliver Wood stopped in the air above.

"Okay," he said, "I'm going to take anyone interested in more advanced flying up to the castle."

As the boys all practically shot into the air, as well as Gabriella and Erica, Liane paused for a moment, looking up at the castle and biting her lip. As she hovered in the air, Hannah came up beside her.

"Hey; you going up?" she asked. Liane shrugged.

"Not sure. You?"

Hannah smiled. "I will if you will; we can't let Ravenclaw clinch the top spot for female fliers."

Liane fell silent, thinking, when she saw Jessica hovering off a short distance, watching her. Liane glared, and turned to Hannah.

"Yeah, let's do it," she said, and the two of them rose up after the others. As they rose, Liane looked back at Jessica, who was still hovering in the same spot. Looking away, Liane focussed on the group above her, rising to join them.

"We all set?" Oliver said with a smile, looking around. Liane nodded, looking around at the circle of students who had decided to try and meet the challenge. Besides her, there was Hannah, Gabriella, Erica, Albus, Scorpius, Bertie and Mitchell, more than had met the challenge at all over the previous three groups. And no-one wanted to be outshone.

"Right; the challenge is, first, from between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor seating areas, head out to the South tower and swing around the outside. Then, down the length of the castle to the top of the Astronomy tower, then back towards the pitch, swinging around the outside to come back between the Slytherin and Hufflepuff seats at the other end, back to me. Ready? Go!" Oliver shouted, and Albus and Scorpius were the first to shoot off, followed by Mitchell, Bertie, Erica and Gabriella in a tight cluster. Liane began to move, Hannah beside her, when suddenly her broom jerked in her grasp. Liane tried to reorient herself towards the castle, when it suddenly jerked forward, almost unseating her.

"Liane? Liane what's wrong?" Hannah cried.

"I don't know, something's- Ah!" Liane yelped, as her broomstick shot forward, accelerating away from the Quidditch pitch at top speed. She crouched low, gripping the broomstick hard, as it swiftly outstripped the rest of the fliers, who scattered in alarm as she shot past. Risking a glance behind her, Liane saw the others pushing to catch up, Hannah trailing behind them, but no matter how she tried, Liane couldn't change her course. When she flew past Albus and Scorpius, Liane let out a terrified yelp.

"Help!" she cried, catching sight of the amazed faces on both boys' faces as they were caught in her slipstream.

As the south tower came up suddenly in her vision, Liane had a terrified thought that she was about to crash, however to her relief she brushed past it, close enough to have been able to reach out and pick a roof tile from the top. However, no matter how she tried, she could not turn her broom around the tower, and found herself spearing out over the forest, rapidly accelerating away from the castle.

The others, having finally realised she was not in control of her broom, were catching up. Albus and Scorpius, flying at the limits of what their brooms could achieve, came up on either side of her.

"Liane!" Scorpius called out.

"Help!" she replied.

"What's wrong?" Albus asked.

Liane tried to respond, but found her broomstick suddenly plummeting, dropping towards the treeline. When she managed to pull it back up, she was skimming across the treetops, the occasionally taller tree brushing dangerously close.

Incredibly, Albus and Scorpius had dropped down to keep track with her again.

"Liane! What's wrong?" Scorpius asked.

"I think I've been hexed," she called back, "the broom, it's not under my control."

Albus drew his wand, holding onto his broom one handed.

"Hold still," he yelled, dodging another tree branch.

"Doing what I can!"

Albus ignored Liane's comment, trying to point his wand towards her.

" _Finite Inc-_ " he began, before having to pull away to dodge another branch. Scorpius had gotten the idea, though, and had drawn his own wand.

" _Finite Incantatem_ ," he cried, and the spell whizzed over Liane's head.

"You two! What's going on?" cried Wood, appearing above them.

"Liane's broom," Scorpius called out.

"Oliver, she's been hexed!" Albus added.

Oliver Wood looked to Liane, who was clutching her broomstick in both hands, knuckles and face turning white.

"I'll handle this; you two pull back," he called. Albus and Scorpius pulled up and away from the treetops, and Oliver drew in closer.

"It's alright, Liane, we'll get this sorted. Hold still," he said, drawing his wand, " _Finite Incantatem_."

The spell missed Liane by a hair, but the disturbance nearly knocked her clear.

"Wait!" she called out, "just hold on."

"What are you planning on doing?" Wood called back.

"I... I'm going to try casting the spell myself," she said.

"Be careful, Liane; if you lose your grip-"

"I'm _very_ aware of what happens if I lose my grip, sir," Liane snapped, before taking a deep breath. Carefully, hyper aware of every shift on the broomstick, she lifted one hand away and reached into her robes, gripping her wand tight. Drawing it out, she pressed the tip to the broom.

" _Finite Incantatem_ ," she called, and there was a sharp buzzing as the broom absorbed the point-blank spell. The broomstick shuddered, but didn't slow.

" _Finite Incantatem!_ " Liane screamed, but the broom maintained its speed. Up ahead, Liane could see a huge tree, rising up out of the forest, directly in her path. With no options remaining, Liane pushed her wand back into the broom, and summoned up every scrap of magic she had.

" _Arcana Mortem_ ," she cried, and the broom, in a series of shuddering jerks, came to a stop.

Breathing deep, Liane looked up at Oliver, Scorpius and Albus as they approached.

"Liane, you did it!" Albus said.

Liane smiled, sitting upright on her broom. But, as she opened her mouth to speak, she could only scream as the broomstick abruptly fell from the air.

Liane felt the broom tug from her grip as she crashed into the upper canopy of the forest, smacking into the branches with her shoulders and head first, flipping end over head as she made her way to the ground. When she finally stopped, her robes tangled in the tree above her, Liane finally let out a string of words neither her parents nor her teachers would ever hear.

" _Diffindo_ ," she chanted, waving her wand at the tree branches clinging onto her. The spell scythed through the branches and dropped her to the ground.

Looking around, Liane found the broom on the ground a short way from where she'd landed, and so she walked over, raised her hand and called,

"Up," but the broom didn't move. She tried again, still to no effect, and when she picked it up and mounted it, no amount of jumping would make the broom fly.

With more foul language as accompaniment, Liane slung the broomstick over her shoulder and tried to find some signal of which direction the castle was.

"Liane!" came Albus' voice through the trees.

"Down here!" she replied. There was a pause, and then she heard Oliver Wood's voice.

" _Reducto_ ," he chanted, and an entire tree nearby turned to dust. When it settled, Wood, Scorpius and Albus flew down through the gap, settling on the ground.

"Liane! I'm so glad you're alright!" Albus said, hurrying off his broom and over to her.

"A few scrapes and bruises, a newly developed debilitating fear of heights, nothing major,  
she replied, wrapping Albus up in a one handed hug.

"Well, nonetheless, I'd like Madam Pomfrey to look you over. Will you be okay flying that broom back?" Oliver asked. Liane shook her head.

"No; I'm fine, but the broom doesn't work anymore," she answered. Oliver frowned.

"What? No, that's impossible," he said, getting off his broom. Oliver rushed over and held out his hand, and Liane passed her broom over. After trying and failing a few times to get it to lift off, Oliver cupped his broom in the crook of his arm and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well, blow me, you weren't kidding. Well, come on then; you can fly with me back to the pitch. Hooch will be pitching a fit," Wood said, mounting up. Liane moved into position behind Oliver, and Albus remounted his own broom. Liane looked up and saw Scorpius hanging back, and she smiled.

"Scorpius, Albus; thanks for coming to try and rescue me. You two make a pretty good team," she said. The look of revulsion on both of their faces as Oliver lifted up into the air sent a wave of giggles through Liane, as the adrenaline finally left her system.

When Madam Pomfrey saw Liane being led into the hospital wing by Oliver Wood, less than two days after releasing Liane from her previous injuries, she fixed Liane with a glare.

"You're going to be another one of _those_ children, aren't you?" she muttered, before pointed them at a bed and rushing off to get some kind of poultice for Liane's wounds.

"Liane, could I borrow your wand?" Oliver asked as Liane sat down. Liane drew it, holding it up for Oliver to see.

"That's interesting; I've seen this before. This is the basilisk wand, isn't it?" he asked, plucking it from her hand. Liane nodded.

"There seems to be a lot of superstition around it, it seems," Liane said, and Oliver nodded.

"Wizards are a superstitious lot; it's hard not to be when magic and curses and prophecies are all real things. _Priori Incantatem_ ," Oliver said, pointing his own wand at Liane's. From the tip of Liane's wand burst a shower of red sparks that smoked heavily, and Oliver quickly dispelled the effect.

"So, that's how it happened," he said quietly, handing the wand back to Liane.

"How what happened?" Liane asked.

"When your attempt to dispel the hex that was placed on your broom failed, you used a spell higher than your year level, didn't you Liane?" Oliver asked.

Liane paused, before nodding.

"A much higher-grade spell, correct?"

Again, Liane nodded. " _Arcana Mortem_ ," she added.

"How is it you've even come to _know_ that spell, let alone cast it?" Oliver asked.

"Spellcasting comes pretty easy for me; easier than transfiguration by a long way. And I like to read," she said.

"Well, in my experience, that sounds like an understatement given the spell you cast. Liane, you stripped the flight charms off the broom," Oliver explained.

"Something we will, given the situation, not be holding against you," said Professor Longbottom as he entered the room.

"Thank you, sir," Liane said quietly.

"You're very welcome, Miss Langford, although I would ask that you not do so again. In the meantime, Liane, it is very concerning that you have been attacked twice in the space of two days. While I appreciate that you may wish to have some time to yourself following your ordeal, I really have to ask; is there anyone who may have reason to harm you?" he asked.

Liane thought back to what she had said to Hannah the last time she had been attacked, and began to put into words the answer she wanted to give. But when she opened her mouth to speak, Liane stopped. She still had no idea who the other person in the room had been on Monday night. And given Jessica's terrible performance in defence or charms, Liane was certain she was not capable of performing hexes that extreme, unless she was presenting the world's most detailed masquerade.

In the end she had no real choice.

"I'm sorry professor, but no; I have no idea who is behind the attacks focussed on me. To be frank, I don't care; if they haven't killed me yet, they're losing their opportunity. All this has convinced me to do is double down on my studies, and then...we'll see," Liane said sternly. Professor Longbottom held her gaze for a moment, before shrugging.

"Well, I can hardly ask a student to abandon their studies," he said, "but remember that the professors and teacher's aides are there to assist you, Liane; not everything needs to be met head on. Now, I'll have a quick word with Mister Wood while Madam Pomfrey looks you over, but I daresay you'll be fine to head back to your dorm tonight."

With that, Professor Longbottom left, gesturing for Oliver Wood to follow, which he did. While Madam Pomfrey saw to her wounds, Liane looked down at her wand. It was warm to her hand, and there was an electric feeling of power up her arm. In truth, she was spent; the spell had taken more out of her than she was letting on, but even still, she wasn't sure she knew how she'd managed to cast it; every attempt to practise anything close to that level had fizzled out. And yet, somehow, flying at hundreds of miles an hour over treetops with only a thin rod of wood to keep her aloft, Liane had pulled off a spell powerful enough to disenchant a broomstick.

And she was going to use that power.

Friday the entire school was abuzz with the tale of the first years run amok during flying class. Remy was outraged that the incident had taken place before they'd been able to have their turn, but had shown only a mediocre ability in the single the next day, barely any better in the air than Yvette. After that, any questions relating to the incident was quickly shut down by the sour magus, whose hair now sported bristly black spikes. Liane was amused by their reaction, but thankful for the quieter afternoon than she'd had morning, as after the fifth tell-through of the redacted story she was no longer interested in discussing it. When the afternoon rolled around and everyone else went off to enjoy their free period, Liane went to the Slytherin Common Room to meet with Wanda Mi.

When she arrived, Wanda immediately pushed Liane back out the door and led her to a disused classroom near the Potions dungeons.

"I've heard the story," Wanda said as the door clicked closed behind her.

"Yeah, I'll honest, I'm pretty sick of telling it," Liane replied, pulling her robes off.

"Stop, leave the robes on. You need to learn to do this in suboptimal conditions or else it's not worth doing at all. And no, not the edited version of events that you've been spreading; I heard the story directly from Oliver Wood. Somehow he knew we were planning to practise together."

Liane slumped.

"Oh. I'm sorry; I didn't tell anyone, someone must have heard-" she began.

"I don't care," Wanda replied, cutting her off, "in fact it has helped us. It has told me how to tap into your instincts and get you properly blocking."

Liane's eyes widened.

"Really? How?" she asked.

Wanda shook her head. "I need a vow of secrecy before we continue."

Liane hesitated. "What for?" she asked.

"This is not a sanctioned teaching method, but I believe it is one that truly will help you unlock your potential," Wanda replied. Liane paused for a moment, before nodding.

"I vow to tell no-one of what happens in these sessions," she said, and Wanda nodded, before drawing her wand.

"Your abilities, as with most young witches, are primed to your emotional state. For some, it is anger, for others, frustration. For you, it is fear," Wanda explained. Liane's eyes narrowed.

"What do you-" she began, but Wanda had already began to flourish her wand.

" _Incendio_ ," Wanda cast, and a fireball launched across the room at Liane.

"Ah!" Liane cried, as her robes caught alight, " _aguame-_ "

"No spellcasting. Each spell you cast, I up the difficulty," Wanda said. Liane looked up, stunned, before dropping to the ground and rolling to extinguish the flames.

When Liane got back up, she glared at Wanda.

"Are you ready to quit?" Wanda asked.

Liane flicked her wand up in front of her, barely feeling the weight.

"Not a chance," Liane replied.


	7. Chapter 7: Official Entry

Chapter 7: Official Entry

" _Incendio_ ," Wanda chanted.

Liane caught the fireball neatly on the tip of her wand, rotating the point until the fireball had completely dissipated.

" _Flipendo_."

Liane caught the blue blast and swiped to her left, leaving a trail of twinkling lights.

" _Tarantallegra_."

Liane swiped upwards, puncturing the purple comet and sending it skyward, where its eight long light trails shot outward.

The two of them stopped, panting, and Wanda nodded appreciatively.

"You've learnt a lot in only two sessions, Liane. From next week, you will be able to practice in your regular sessions with Duellers," Wanda said.

Liane wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled.

"Well, you're good at getting me motivated," she replied, "I haven't learnt so much in twice as much time with Professor Macmillan."

"Don't disregard the professor; his skills are battle-honed. But he is too enamoured with this new curriculum, and its focus on team cohesion. It leaves no room for personalised tuition," Wanda said, leaning against one of the tables.

"Perhaps. Still, it will be nice to get into class on Monday and show him what I've learned. I just wish I could scare myself into learning transfiguration, too," Liane replied with a smile. Wanda laughed.

"It will come; you have a lot of talent, Liane, you just need to chisel that into skill."

"Well, I'm only two weeks in. I am looking forward to Duellers next week though," Liane replied.

"Yes; be aware, though, it's not going to be an easy move. Duellers is not your average club; it's physically taxing as well as magically exhausting. We test your ability to fight, yes, but also your ability to survive using nothing but your wand and your comrades. You sure you're ready?" Wanda asked. Liane nodded.

"Absolutely," she replied.

"That's the spirit. We practice Wednesday evenings and Friday afternoons, out on the lawns between the castle and the Quidditch pitch. I'll tell the others you're definitely coming," Wanda replied.

"Excellent, absolutely," Liane said with a smile, and Wanda left the room.

Liane put her wand away and followed Wanda out into the hallway, and stopped when she saw the prefect standing stock still halfway back to the common room. In the silence of the hallway, Liane could hear the sounds of some sort of commotion happening further up. Wanda drew her wand and turned back to Liane.

"Liane, stay here," she said.

"But-"

"Stay here!" Wanda repeated, before turning and running back towards the source of the commotion.

Liane hung back, fidgeting nervously as she strained to hear what was going on. When nothing else seemed to happen, Liane decided to ignore Wanda's warning, and drawing her wand she began to run back up the hallway. Turning the corner back towards the Slytherin Common Room, Liane stopped short; at the end of the corridor, her wand raised, was Wanda, and at her feet, a body. As Liane walked forward, the Common Room door opened and several students spilled out behind her, along with Professor Slughorn.

"Miss Mi?" the Professor asked, and Wanda turned around.

"Professor, there was-" she began, but Slughorn had seen the body.

"Oh my word," he breathed.

Liane had gotten close enough now to see who it was. It was Jessica Price, her front covered in blood. Liane tightened her grip on her wand, stepping forward again, and spotted the faintest shift in Jessica's chest.

"Professor," Liane cried back, "she's still breathing."

Professor Slughorn stepped forward, his wand in his hand.

" _Vitastasis, Wingardium Leviosa, Locomotor Corpus_ ," he chanted, Jessica's body rising into the air on a nimbus of powder blue light, before shooting off down the hallway, him travelling along behind.

"Wanda, what happened?" Liane asked, walking up to the prefect.

"Yes; I think we'd all like an answer to that question," came a deep voice behind her, and Liane turned to see Rudzani wading through the crowd of ogling second and third years.

"There was another person here, the two were arguing. When they saw me one of them drew their wand, and without even saying the incantation they slashed open the first-year's chest and then vanished," Wanda replied.

Rudzani nodded.

"Okay, I'll tell the others. You know the drill, though," he replied.

Wanda put her wand away, nodding.

"I'll follow the professor up to the Hospital Wing," she replied, before turning back and heading off up the tunnel. Rudzani turned to the crowd behind them.

"Everyone, back inside, now," he said to the assembled onlookers, before turning to Liane, "except you. I'm going to need you to tell me everything that happened."

Liane nodded, and waited in the hallway while Rudzani shepherded all of the other students away, then returned with Molly Shepard and Booker. The four of them then returned to the empty classroom Wanda had used to tutor Liane. Once they were secure and the door was closed, Liane began to speak.

"I didn't see much; Wanda and I had only just finished practising, and on our way out we heard raised voices. Wanda told me to stay behind, and I did...at first. I got there only a few moments before everybody else; I never saw the other person, only Wanda and Jessica's body," Liane explained. Booker nodded.

"It's okay, Liane; we know Wanda didn't do it. But you are the closest thing we have to a witness, and if we are going to support her, we need to make sure that you're safe as well. Wanda has gone with Slughorn to reiterate her story, which means until the faculty is able to verify her non-involvement, she's out of the loop," Booker said.

"Meanwhile, we have a highly dangerous, powerful unknown here in the castle, attacking students. While the teachers will do the right thing and look into Wanda's story, we need to be the vanguard in making sure no other students get hurt," Molly added.

"Uh, I might have something to add about that," Liane said.

"What do you mean?" Booker asked, frowning.

"Well, I think whoever hurt Jessica was the one who hexed my broom the other day. And, when I was attacked the first night; it was Jessica who attacked me, along with another person I couldn't see. That other person jinxed me so that I couldn't fight back," Liane told them.

"And you didn't say anything to anyone?" Rudzani asked.

"I didn't think I could; I was told that anything I said or did to Jessica would get to her father," Liane replied.

"Her father?" Molly asked, turning to Booker.

"Archimedes Price, from the Department of Magical Education," Booker explained, before turning back to Liane, "you still ought to have told someone, Liane. If you'd come to me, we could have gone to Jeremy first before reporting her, he could have advocated for you with their father."

Liane felt a pit open up in her stomach as she realised that it was obvious that this was the right way to have handled it, but it was too late now.

"Sorry, I...I didn't think," she replied.

"It's alright; you met the boy once, you're not expected to run to the Hufflepuff fifth-year in your first week," he replied, "just remember, we're all Slytherin prefects for a reason. Now, what's the first plan of action?"

"Wanda said the other person was able to cast a cutting spell and a disillusionment charm wordlessly, and if we take Liane's story into consideration we can add acceleration and body weakening curses to the list. Our first step should be to get Duellers and the Student Teacher Assistants onside, Booker, you take the first lot, Molly the second. I'll talk to the Slytherin Quidditch team at practise; we need to have the student body's top people ready to act if the mysterious assailant shows their face again," Rudzani outlined. Liane nodded.

"None of those groups cover the first years; I'll speak with my friends, they can get the word out through all four houses," she added.

"Be careful, Liane; you have a very talented group of friends, but you're still all just first-year. It's all well and good to be prepared, but don't go _looking_ for trouble, okay?" Booker asked.

"I never do; it finds me anyway," Liane replied.

"Nevertheless; we know your dorm is not safe, so we'll need to find you somewhere safe to sleep-" Booker began, but Molly held up her hand. Pulling her wand out, she pointed it at the door.

" _Viaportus_ ," she muttered, and the door blew open, toppling Scorpius, Olivia, Remy and Hannah into the room.

"Uh, we may be able to help with that," Scorpius said, pushing himself up from the floor.

The chambers of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass were as spacious as any dorm room, dominated by a king-sized bed with silk sheets in its centre. At the end opposite the door was a roaring fireplace, and there was a desk and chair on one side and a small reading corner with couches and beanbags.

"Wow, nice digs," Liane said, dropping her backpack on the ground near a temporary mattress that had been moved there by the house elves.

Olivia shrugged.

"It's passable; my room at home is nearly twice as big," she replied. Liane let out a whistle.

"Well, it's a pretty significant upgrade for me," Liane said, falling back on the mattress.

Olivia sat down on the bed.

"From what I hear, you might move into rooms like this sooner rather than later," Olivia said.

"What do you mean?"

"The last scion of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Bones? If Susan Bones can successfully petition the ministry to have you recognised as a formal member of the family, you inherit all benefits that grants you," Olivia replied.

"Huh," Liane replied, "I'd actually forgotten all about that." A smile spread across Liane's face. "Wouldn't that be hilarious? Jessica wakes up in the hospital wing and finds that I've moved from 'daughter of a squib' to the last scion of a most ancient and noble house."

"I'm sorry you had to put up with that, Liane; blood purity is such an outdated concept," Olivia replied, leaning against the head of her bed.

"It's a ridiculous concept; the existence of Muggleborns to begin with shows that the purity of a person's blood has zero relation to their capabilities as a magic user. Especially when the most capable witch of the last few decades was a muggleborn," Liane replied. There was a moment of silence before Olivia replied.

"Yes, indeed."

The two sat in silence for some time, listening to the crackling fire. After a moment, Liane sat up, grabbed her bag and pulled out her transfiguration textbook.

"You're studying? After everything that happened?" Olivia asked, incredulously.

"Can't lose sight of the end goal, no matter what invisible assassins may be creeping the halls. I can't know if there'll be a need for transfiguration in the qualifiers after all," Liane replied, pulling open the book to its bookmarked position.

"You're entering, then?" Olivia asked. Liane nodded.

"Of course; there's going to be a team of first years, why wouldn't I want to see if I'm good enough to be considered? I can't think of a better opportunity to put to the test all the work I've done," Liane replied.

"I suppose," Olivia said quietly. Liane looked over at the other girl.

"Are you entering?" she asked.

Olivia shook her head.

"No, I don't think I will," she replied.

"Why not?"

Olivia shrugged.

"I'm just not that good, that's all," she said.

Liane paused for a moment, looking across the room.

"What does Scorpius say about that?" Liane asked. Olivia's eyes widened and her brow furrowed.

"What do you mean by that? Why should Scorpius care?" she asked.

"Well," said Liane, "I mean, you two do spend a lot of time together. You're always off talking to one another when Albus is around, and you study together, and…" Liane let the sentence hang. Olivia rolled her eyes.

"You nargle; Scorpius is my _cousin_ , Liane, his mother is my auntie Astoria," she replied, throwing one of her many pillows across at Liane's head. Liane flinched out of the way, blocking the pillow with her book.

"Well, I didn't know that, clearly," she replied laughing, "you've got to admit, it did look... very different from the outside."

"I cannot believe this," Olivia replied, burying her face in another pillow.

"Look, all the magical families seem to know one another around here, I'm sure it's not a common mistake," Liane said apologetically. Olivia's face pulled up from her pillow.

"It better not be," she said darkly, before straightening up, "wait; _you're_ not into Scorpius are you?" she asked.

Liane wrinkled her nose.

"Uh, no, not at all," she replied.

"Who then?" Olivia asked.

"What?"

"Who do you like?"

Liane rolled her eyes, grabbing the pillow and throwing it back.

"No one," she said dryly.

"Oh, come on, Liane, I won't say," Olivia said, a mischievous grin appearing on her face.

"Seriously, I'm not keen on anyone, I swear," Liane replied, a little hastily.

"Oh, you so do; who is it? Bertie? _Albus_?"

"Shut up, Greengrass," Liane said, throwing herself back down onto the mattress, her back turned to Olivia as she tried to read her transfiguration textbook by the firelight, the other girl cackling to herself like a witch out of muggle stories.

On saturday Liane met with Yvette, Bertie and Remy in the library, going over the piles of homework they had each received on identification of flight charms.

"No-one ever said flying would have a theory component," Remy drawled, their hair and eyes both an appropriate sky blue and moving like wisps of cloud, their facial features and limbs both light and slender to fit the theme.

"Believe me, theory is more than enough," Liane replied, shifting _Magical Flight Theory: Broomsticks and Bedknobs_ off to one side and grabbing _At Charms Length_ from the pile in the centre.

Remy responded by jabbing their wand at the paper aeroplane they'd folded and lifting it up into the air, balancing the nose of the plane on the tip of their wand.

"I'm still more concerned about this other assailant that your prefect reports; you say you think it was the same person who was in the Slytherin girls dorm when Jessica attacked you?" Bertie asked.

"I think so," Liane replied, "I really have no idea."

"Well, Jeremy Price hasn't been seen since last night, presumably he's at his sister's bedside, but the rest of the Hufflepuff prefects are all asking for students to treat it as rumour until the teachers say otherwise," Bertie said.

"To reduce panic, I can see how that would be the best idea, but I'd still be happier if they were at least asked to be on guard," Liane replied.

"None of the prefects from Ravenclaw have said anything, but Mietta Scalieri is the Charms STA, she's assisting with my mother's classes, and she's been chatting with the top students in each year. She hasn't said anything to me, but those students have all been seen double-checking their wands often," Yvette added.

"Good; let's hope that's enough," Liane said, sitting back. "Meanwhile; Duellers are starting this week, any of you joining up?" she asked.

"Dad's telling me to, but I'm not sure," Bertie replied, "I might just come and spectate to begin with."

"I'm definitely coming to watch," Remy added, "partially to check it out, partially to watch you get pummelled with spells again," they said with a wicked grin, sending the paper aeroplane at Liane, who intercepted it with her own wand, where it turned to ash.

"Don't be so sure," she said, quietly, looking up apologetically as Madam Pince sent a vicious glare at their table.

"One way or the other, it should be fun. What about Mitchell Munroe, is he joining?" Remy asked.

"Don't know," Liane replied.

"He should; he doesn't say much but that boy is wicked with his wand," Bertie said, and Yvette sent him a curious smile. Bertie looked confused for a moment, before his face went red.

"Wait, that's not-" he started, but the table had already erupted into laughter, cut off suddenly when Madam Pince loudly cleared her throat.

"I'd like Mitchell to join, and I think Rose Weasley would be good as well. It's too early to know whether there'll be anyone else from first year who'd be interested," Liane said when Madam Pince had turned away.

"Not even our _haïr paire_?" Yvette asked.

"Our what?" Liane replied.

"Albus and Scorpius; the two of them act like rivals, constantly pushing themselves to be better than the other," Yvette explained.

"Oh, right; well, if _both_ of them joined, I daresay it would be immensely entertaining, but we'll just have to wait and see I suppose," Liane said, "but you're right, they have the potential," she agreed.

"And of course, anyone who joins will have an advantage in the Olympiad qualifiers," Remy added.

"Indeed; no matter what the trials are, being quick and good with your spells cannot but help," Liane agreed.

"Maybe I will put my name down officially, then; it can't hurt," Bertie said. Liane let out a laugh.

"Oh, trust me, it can hurt," she said.

"What do you mean?" Bertie asked.

Liane hung her head.

"Well, you know how I was in the hallway with Wanda when Jessica's body was found?" she said.

"Yes; we asked about that last night and you dodged the question," Remy said, their voice suddenly low.

"Well, the last two Friday afternoon free periods, when I told you guys I was going to study on my own, I've been...practising with Wanda in an empty classroom. She was getting me to practice blocking," Liane confessed.

"Practice how," Remy asked, sitting upright.

"Well, she forbade me from casting spells, and then made me practise blocking... against third-year curses," Liane said, before rolling up her sleeve to show a burn mark on her right arm, "like _incendio_."

"Liane! What on _earth_ were you thinking?" Remy and Yvette roared nearly in unison. She never got the chance to answer, however, as at that moment Madam Pince descended upon them.

"Out! Get out!" she screamed, and the four of them hurried to collect their books and parchment back into their bags and escape.

After Yvette and Remy forced Liane to go to the hospital wing to get a salve for her burn ("I slept too close to the fire, Madam Pomfrey. What do you mean this looks like a spell burn?") the four of them went down to the Great Hall for lunch, where a great number of people seemed to be congregating down near the Head Table. At the Gryffindor table, Albus, Rose, Cassandra and Mitchell were all seated together, so Liane and the others moved over to join them.

"What's going on down there?" Liane asked, seating herself next to Rose.

"The official entries for the qualifiers have opened," Albus explained. Liane's head snapped up as she had another look at the crowd; sure enough, the crowd seemed to surge upwards from left to right in age, with eleven and twelve-year-olds down one end and seventeen-year-olds at the other.

"Already? I thought the qualifiers weren't for another month yet?" Liane asked.

"Exactly a month; they're giving students twenty-one days to get their names down before the lists are taken up and divided," Rose answered.

"Apparently," Cassandra added, "all qualifier events are to take place in pairs; names are randomly paired up within the same year-levels, and the pairs have a week to get to know one another's strengths and weaknesses before they compete."

"Randomly paired up? That seems a bit harsh; what if you get paired up with some complete duffer?" Bertie asked.

"I'm not sure; there's something there about scoring points, but there's still a lot left in the dark. Either way, I'm sure that it's set up to get a clear picture of what you can do, no matter who you're teamed up with," Albus added.

"So, who have signed up?" Liane asked. Albus, Rose and Mitchell raised their hands.

"Well, sooner rather than later hey," Remy said, standing back up. Liane and Bertie rose to join them.

"Yvette," Liane asked, "you aren't coming?"

Yvette shook her head.

"I've got three weeks to decide, I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to a decision one way or the other just yet," she replied. Liane shrugged.

"Suit yourself," she said, and the three of them made their way to the first-years end of the table.

As they approached the table, Liane saw how it was set up; piles of name cards, along with quills and ink, arrayed in front of large wooden boxes labelled one through seven.

"That's it? A little low-tech," Liane said as they sauntered up.

"What were you expecting, some muggle computer network?" Remy asked.

"We can't even see who else entered, or how many," Liane replied, irritated.

"I guess that's the idea; stop people from trying to get a head start by sizing up the other entrants before the pairings are chosen," Bertie said, before grabbing a card and scrawling his name, "but even so, have a look up the other end of the table."

Liane and Remy bent over the table to look down the other end, and Liane immediately caught sight of Alastor Donovan putting his name into the box, followed closely by a tall girl with short black hair.

"Who's the girl?" Liane asked.

" _That_ is Mietta Scalieri," Remy answered, "the Charms STA. If the Student Teacher Assistants are all entering they're almost sure to get through."

"I'll bet that will be worth watching; Charms, Defence, who else do you reckon?" Liane asked, grabbing a card to write her own name down.

"Almost definitely Tania Haywood from Gryffindor, the Transfiguration assistant. Depending on the qualifiers, probably Hufflepuffs Kain Winslet from Potions or Wesley Jackson from Herbology, or maybe Yasmin Tolley from Care and Handling of Magical Creatures, she's a Slytherin. I doubt Runes, Divination, Arithmancy or Muggle Studies are on the list but there might be something; puzzles and riddles have often been part of the trials in the past," Bertie explained, as Liane moved over for Remy to write their name down.

"How do you _know_ all this? We've only ever had one assistant in our classes," Liane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"His dad, Liane," Remy muttered as they slipped their name into the box.

"Oh, of course," Liane replied, flicking her head, "duh."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it; Dad expects me to be the Defence STA when I get to seventh year," Bertie said, sounding exhausted.

"Well, we'll see about that," Liane replied, jabbing Bertie in the ribs playfully with her elbow.

"What, you?" Bertie said with a laugh.

"Yes me; I'll show you, Bertie Macmillan, that I am not one to give up easily," Liane replied.

"In the meantime," Remy said, pulling away from the table, "we need to finish off that homework paper before tonight; the Gryffindors are throwing another party-"

" _Another_ one? That's three in two weeks!" Liane exploded.

"Yeah, well, the lions like to party. But, this time the party isn't restricted to the Gryffindor dorms," Remy replied, their eyes twinkling.

"Wait, what? Where is it?" Bertie asked. Remy's smile widened.

"The Room of Requirement."

Liane frowned at the same time Bertie's face lit up.

"You can't be serious," she replied.

"Awesome!" Bertie exploded at the same time.

"Shh, keep it down," Remy replied, "this is not a public thing; it's after hours and off the record."

"It's also not going to happen; the Room of Requirement was destroyed, burnt out by fiendfyre," Liane said.

" _Au contraire_ , one of the Room's many chambers was destroyed. But, the magic held on, and according to a very reliable source, it opened again this year. We're celebrating history, Liane, you can't deny us that, surely?" Remy asked.

Liane frowned, looking from Remy's wolfish grin to Bertie's barely contained exuberance. Eventually, she relented.

"Alright, fine. What about the others, are we telling them?" she asked. Remy looked over to the rest of the group, their eyes fixing on Albus.

"Something tells me they already know."


	8. Chapter 8: Room Reborn

Chapter 8: The Room Reborn

That night, Liane crept out of the private suites while Olivia knocked on Remy and Scorpius' doors, careful not to wake any others. The common room was deserted, even the hardest studying seventh-years having long departed for their dorms, and Liane had pulled her winter cloak around her to try and hide in the dark.

" _Up laate fiiirsssstiiie?_ " Anguis asked from the end of the room.

" _Naaaughtyy naaaaaughtyy,_ " Zmeya added, letting out the hissing laugh.

Liane looked around, checking to make sure the others weren't coming up behind her, and hurried over to the cages.

" _Can I asssssk yooouu twoo sssssomething?_ " Liane asked.

" _Whaaat aboooouut_?"

" _A giiirl, a fiiirsssst yeeeaar, wassss attacked outssssside yessssterday eeeeveniing. Mosssst likely another Sssslytherin. Did you sssssseee whooo?_ "

The two snakes looked at each other.

" _Rememberrr giiirrrl_ ," Anguis said.

" _Nooo-ooone elssse wiiith heeer,_ " Zmeya added.

Liane looked around, back at the entrance to the common room, before turning back to the cage.

" _Beee caaarefull fiiirsssstiiiee,_ " Zmeya said, her head dipping low, " _Hogwartssss not alwaayysssss ssssafe._ "

" _Sssseeek out sssserpent sssummoning sssspell. Sssseee more, heeeaar more,_ " Anguis added.

At that moment, Liane heard a door opening, and turning around she saw Hannah appearing at the opening to the first-year dorms.

"Hey," Hannah whispered, and Liane walked over to join her.

"Hey; you ready to head out?" Liane asked.

"Yeah; where are the others?" Hannah replied.

"They shouldn't be much longer; Remy is having to make sure they get out without waking any of the other students in the magi dorm," Liane explained, and Hannah nodded.

When the others finally did appear, Remy still shaking their head ("I cannot believe how long it takes for those second-years to shut up and go to sleep") the five of them made their way out of the common room and into the dungeon hallways.

"Liane, if you would," Remy asked, and with a nod Liane pulled out her wand.

" _Lumos Privae_ ," she cast, and a small glowing ball of white light appeared in the air.

"What spell is that?" Scorpius asked.

"It's called the Private Light; it provides a bright light that's visible only to people within five feet of the spell. If you're any further away, it looks as dark as normal," Liane explained.

Remy took point, Liane just behind and the others clustered around her, all trying to stay within the five-foot radius as they walked silently up through the dungeons to the Entrance Hall. When they reached the main staircase across from the entrance to the great hall, they saw Bertie appear from a side corridor, the one leading to the Hogwarts kitchens and the Hufflepuff dorms. Remy called him over, and blinking he stepped into the circle of light.

"Wow, was not expecting that," he whispered, rubbing his eyes as they began to ascend the stairs.

"No trouble?" Liane asked. Bertie shook his head.

"There was a fifth-year group playing exploding snap for hours, and Longbottom came and told them off. I slipped out during the commotion, and doubled-back along my route a couple of times to make sure I hadn't been followed," he said.

"Good; Ravenclaw and Gryffindor dorms are higher in the castle than the entrance to the room, so the others will just meet us there. Come on, we better get moving," Remy called back, and they began to pick up speed.

Taking the stairs to the left, the six of them made their way up to the seventh floor, dodging a half-blind, wizened old Filch as they did. On the seventh floor corridor where Remy led them there were already several other students milling about, those who strayed too close to Liane's light jumping in shock. Gesturing for the others to hang back, Remy walked forward, striding down the length of the corridor to the far corner, then returning, before gesturing for the group to follow them once more as they moved down the corridor again.

After they passed the middle point a third time, Remy stopped and turned to face the wall. Liane stepped forward and raised her wand, the light shining on the wall, and as they watched a large door appeared, shifting forward out of the brickwork like it was always there. When the door appeared completely, it swung open, and the hallway was suddenly filled with music and light.

Liane extinguished her wand and everyone in the hallway surged into the room, the door swinging shut behind them. The room was long and capped at both ends by roaring fires, and along the wall facing the door two tables laden down with food flanked a podium, upon which stood a huge, ornate gramophone with three disc spinners and two horn speakers, and the middle of the room was dominated by dancing students all across the age and house spectrum. The music was a pumping, bass heavy rock tune with wailing, scratchy vocals, and sitting behind the sound desk was a seventh-year in red-trimmed sleeveless robes, pants and neither a shirt nor and shoes, his black hair tousled and fluffed into a mane that fell over his shoulders.

"Who is that?" Liane asked.

"That, my first year friends, is Lion," said a voice beside them, and Liane turned to see James Potter and a group of other second-years.

Liane raised an eyebrow. "Lion? Is that his birth name?" she asked dryly.

"Come on, Liane, have a little fun, will you?" Remy said, pulling their cloak away to reveal a black cocktail dress spotted with white polka dots, their hair poofing out into a firetruck red version of Lion's mane and suddenly growing another four or five inches. As Remy walked forward onto the dance floor, the dancers gave a cheer, and absorbed them into the crowd immediately. Liane took a step to the side as Bertie randomly grabbed Hannah's hand and pulled her out onto the dancefloor, and walked with Scorpius and Olivia down towards one of the fires.

Standing by the food table at the end near the fire, Liane found Albus and Cassandra chatting.

"Hey you two," she said, walking over.

"Liane, you made it!" Cassandra said, smiling and jumping at Liane, sweeping her up into a hug.

"Yeah, I made it; I doubt Remy would have let me live it down if I'd missed it. Who else is here?" Liane asked, looking from Cassandra to Albus.

"Mitchell, Yvette and Rose are all here, somewhere, as are James and his friends," Albus replied.

"Yeah, we ran into him by the door; he introduced us to The Darkness up there," Liane said, jerking her head up to the sound desk. Cassandra began to laugh as she broke away while Albus only looked confused.

"Well, he's responsible for most of this," Albus said, gesturing towards the tables of food, "he refuses to tell me how, though, but he swears that none of it ties back to the Hogwarts kitchens."

Liane looked at the massive spread of pastries, sweets and other assorted snack foods and whistled.

"Where could you get any of this stuff in Hogwarts except the kitchens?" Liane muttered.

"You couldn't; there is nowhere. Which means he's either lying or…" Albus replied darkly.

"Or?" Liane asked.

"Or James got some presents from Dad," Albus said, to Liane's complete bafflement.

After a moment, Lion leapt to his feet, his wand held up to his mouth.

"Hello Hogwarts!" he yelled, the song ending to the cheers of the dancers. Liane turned to look as the flamboyant Gryffindor leapt up into the table, milking the cheers.

"Firstly let's all give a big cheer to our pal, the son of the Boy Who Lived, James Sirius Potter!" he yelled, and the cheers exploded in volume, James being lifted into the air by his friends.

"Now cats, this year we'll be pitting the best of Hogwarts against whatever Beauxbatons and Durmstrang can throw at us. Yours truly will be trying out, of course," he said, and paused as another round of cheers broke through the room, "and I'm looking forward to seeing all you lovely faces there as we take the top spot again!"

"How obnoxious can you get?" Liane muttered, turning red when she heard laughs around her.

"I know he comes off that way at first," Albus said, leaning in close, "but he's actually a pretty decent guy. He and Alastor Donovan have apparently been best friends since first year."

Liane looked up at the cartoonish caricature of a seventies glam rocker standing atop a cobbled together magical disc jockey table and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure you're right," she said.

"Now cats, let's liven this show up with some Wyrd Sisters. Who does the best parties?"

"Lions!" the crowd cheered back.

"Damn right!" Lion said, dropping back to the platform and spinning a record on a finger, dropping it down into the pin. A screeching wail of an electric guitar filled the room, and the crowd of dancers leapt back into their frenzy of movement.

"Liane?" came a voice behind her, and she turned to see Scorpius, looking as nervous as the day she'd met him.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked.

"Just, wondering if you wanted to, uh?" he stuttered.

Liane grinned.

"Scorpius," she said.

"Uh, yes?" he replied.

"Would you like to dance?"

With a look of relief, Scorpius nodded, and Liane grabbed his hand and pulled him out onto the dancefloor, finding Remy dancing with Yvette, Rose, Mitchell, Bertie and Hannah. After a moment, Albus and Cassandra joined, Olivia just behind them, and they danced until early in the morning.

When the party finally started to wind down, the food long spent, the fires dwindling to a pale luminescence of embers, the entire group fell out into the hallways, exhausted and exhilarated. Many of the older students had secreted themselves in unused classrooms and dark corners, and James and his cohort of second-years had taken over the music. Instead of sticking around, the first year group made their way instead out to the nearest stairwell, sitting on the stairs under the twinkling of Liane's Private Light spells, cast a couple of times to spread the light across the eleven of them, plus a few others Liane didn't know from the other houses. There had been a few minutes of conversation that had encompassed the entire group, but it had dissolved quickly; now the few spots of conversation only included two or three people, and most were nodding off against walls or each other's shoulders.

Liane, leaning her back at the corner between the wall and Mitchell, closed her eyes and listened to the murmur of conversation around her.

"Where did you get that dress?" Rose was asking Remy, who was once more covered up by their robes.

"Yvette; girl is magic," Remy replied.

"Remy, we're all magic."

"Did you _see_ that dress? I'm sorry, but that is not something Flitwick can teach," Remy snapped back, flicking a sweets wrapper at Scorpius, who ducked it, laughing.

"So it's another Cinderella spell?" Rose asked.

"Yes; it will turn back into Remy's school uniform in a couple of hours," Yvette replied.

"I had her cast it after dinner."

"I thought it was weird how you went straight to your room after," Hannah said.

Liane began drifting off, letting the conversation wash over her. With her hand curled around her wand, Liane nuzzled into Mitchell's side and felt his arm coil around her shoulders, and in the warm and comfort she felt herself begin to fall asleep.

Her hand, abruptly, began to feel warm, and Liane's eyes opened to find she was alone on the stairs. Standing up, she looked down at her wand, which seemed to be glowing faintly and humming, a faint vibration that had her entire arm thrumming with power and heat. Holding it out in front of her, she looked around.

" _Lumos_ ," she chanted, and the tip of her wand flared bright, filling the stairwell with light. As her eyes adjusted, Liane looked down the stairwell and, for a brief second, she saw a flicker of a shadow down on the landing below.

"Hello?" she called out. When there was no response, she raised her wand higher. Still seeing nothing, Liane frowned.

"Hello?" she called out again, stepping forward.

Still hearing nothing, Liane disenchanted her light and turned her wand on herself.

" _Vudenuit_ ," she cast, and the shadowy stairwell was thrown into sharp relief, a web of greyscale line art, lacking colour, but bright enough to see. Pointing her wand down the stairway again, Liane walked down to the landing, looking around to see where the shadow had gone. She could see nothing, however when Liane pointed her wand down the sixth floor corridor she felt the humming increase.

Breaking into a jog, Liane roved her eyes back and forward, trying to see any sign of the figure. Reaching the next junction between hallways, Liane span around, looking down each passage. Down the left corridor, Liane caught another glimpse of the shadowy figure, and sprinted after it, her wand held high.

"Hey, you! Stop," she called out. When the figure didn't change its course, Liane adjusted her aim.

" _Somnium_ ," she chanted, sending the sleep spell forward. The figure stopped, turned and drew its wand at the same time, catching the spell and splashing it against the wall. The figure flicked its wand, and Liane, remembering what had happened to Jessica, span her wand around underhanded.

" _Prismatis_ ," she cried, and the blue prism shield appeared a moment before a bright orange line appeared across it. The shield shattered and Liane felt something hot as her shoulder exploded in pain. Liane dropped to her knee, her wand arm dropping, and looking at her shoulder Liane saw a dark, bloody tear. Looking back at the figure, Liane felt her blood start to boil, and throwing herself to her feet she raised her wand once more.

" _Stupefy_ ," she cried, and the red bolt launched at the shadowy figure. Instead of blocking the spell with its wand, the figure stepped back and waved its own wand, a blue bubble appearing in the air around it. When the stunner splashed harmlessly across the shield, the shadowy figure paused, looking down at Liane. She tried to raise her wand once more, but was rapidly losing blood and magic, and could barely lift the wand in front of her. Sure she was about to die, Liane closed her eyes, letting her arm fall to her side. When it didn't come, she opened her eyes again, and saw the figure had vanished.

Liane pushed herself up to her feet, her wand hanging by her side, and peered down the hallway, but there was absolutely no sign of the mysterious figure anywhere. Turning around, her vision went painfully white, and she fell to the ground with a yelp.

"Liane? Oh, blimey; _finite incantatem_ ," came Albus' voice, and Liane felt the painful burning in her eyes dissolve into a single point of light, illuminating several worried faces.

"Liane what happened?" Scorpius asked.

"You were all gone," Liane groaned.

"Rose, you're good with charms; can you do anything about this cut?"

"Merlin, look how deep it is."

"I'll see what I can do; _episkey_ ," Rose chanted, and Liane felt the pain in her shoulder start to ebb away.

"Now, you can _all_ explain what exactly you are doing up at four in the morning?" came the voice of Professor Longbottom from behind the crowd.

"Professor, we're-" Bertie began.

"I assume it has something to do with why I found several dozen other students on the floor above. Needless to say, I'm subtracting twenty points from each of you, and every single one of you is getting detention. Now, someone explain what has happened _here_ specifically," Professor Longbottom asked forcefully.

"We don't know sir," Scorpius said, his voice calm, "honestly. Liane ran off, and when we found her, she was bleeding profusely and looking around wildly. Rose healed her."

Professor Longbottom looked down at Liane, who was slumped against Mitchell as he held her up, and the blood-soaked tear in the shoulder of her cloak.

"Liane?" he asked, his voice low and even.

"I...I saw it...the figure who attacked...Jessica," Liane huffed, exhausted. There was a short moment of silence, before Professor Longbottom nodded.

"Rose, you can have your twenty points back for your excellent healing work. Liane, you will be receiving double the detention. Now, all of you are to stay here until your house teachers are able to escort you back to your dorms," Longbottom said, before drawing his own wand and, with a flick of his wrist, producing a conjured image of a large, round toad made of wisps of silvery light, which promptly hopped away, disappearing down the corridor.

After a moment, Professor Macmillan arrived, and after a brief and quietly held chat with Professor Longbottom, silently led a morose Bertie away. Shortly thereafter, Professor Flitwick arrived, leading Yvette and Rose back upstairs.

The wait for Professor Slughorn's arrival was long and tense, as Liane regained enough strength to stand up on her own. Cassandra and Mitchell were standing beside Liane in case she fell again, and even Albus and Scorpius were both too busy looking nervously at her to make any kind of show of ignoring one another. Olivia and Hannah, standing off to the side, were glancing between Liane and the Professor, as if unsure if they ought to say anything.

When at last Professor Slughorn arrived, bustling about in a nightcap and dressing gown, he looked at the five of his Slytherin first years with something closer to mild irritation, less than anger or disappointment.

"What business is this, dragging me out of bed at this hour?" he warbled, and Professor Longbottom nodded at him.

"Professor, these students need escorting back to their dorms. It appears as though Prefect Mi's claim that there was another student involved in the attack on Miss Price has been corroborated. I will see my students back to their dorm and speak with the Headmistress; your Prefect will be allowed to return to her duties tomorrow," he said, and Professor Slughorn's face turned serious.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We will go over tonight's events in detail tomorrow, Professor; meanwhile, these students all should return to bed."

With that, Professor Longbottom gestured for the Gryffindors to follow him, and they moved back towards the stairs. Professor Slughorn turned to the others with a warning eye.

"Well, then, I suppose we'd better be getting back," he said critically, before turning back down the hallway, still muttering to himself about being woken.

Liane started to walk after him, but Remy came up beside her.

"Tell us everything," they said.

"I don't know really what happened; I was drifting off on the stairs next to Mitchell, when suddenly I was awake. All of you were gone, and my wand was humming, warm to the touch. I saw something moving, and followed it down here. It was a person, although I couldn't see them very clearly; I tried to hit them with a sleep spell, but they blocked it and threw their cutting spell back at me. I shielded most of it, took the cut to the shoulder, and threw everything I had left into a stunner. When that didn't work I was sure I was done for, but they just...ran away. I was trying to see where they'd gone when you lot showed up," Liane explained.

"Well, I don't know what really happened, Liane, but that's not what we saw," Scorpius said, coming to her other side, the girls coming around to the other side of Scorpius.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You stood up, dispelling your private lights at the same time, plunging the stairwell into darkness. When Rose and Yvette got lights up, you were gone, so we went looking for you. Eventually Albus heard someone casting the Stunning Spell, and led us to you; there was no-one else around when we found you," Scorpius explained.

"That's very strange. Why would they just leave me like that? They had no trouble loosening me up to be tortured, or in maiming Jessica. It doesn't make sense," Liane said. The others, with nothing more to add, nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's probably for the best if we leave it for the teachers; clearly this isn't something we can handle," Hannah said quietly. Liane shook her head.

"I did a dumb thing, running off like that. But I don't think we can rely on the teachers keeping us completely safe," she replied.

"So what do you suggest?" Remy asked.

"I don't know. But I do know that I need to get better; it's not enough to be good at spells, I need to be quicker, stronger. I need to not collapse after one stunning spell," Liane replied, tightening her fist around her wand.

"How about you get some sleep, first, Mad-Eye, and we'll discuss it more after breakfast," Remy replied, and the five of them followed Slughorn all the way back to the Slytherin dorms.

Liane barely slept that evening, her eyes frequently flicking open and darting to Olivia's closed and locked chamber door. When she finally fell asleep, Liane entered a fitful night's dreams, full of shadowy figures and wands slashing. She awoke with a start to find the fire had been allowed to die down almost completely, and Olivia was already up and out of bed, sitting at her desk.

"Morning," Liane moaned. Olivia looked at the clock on her desk.

"For the next ten minutes or so," she said, turning to Liane, "how are you feeling?"

Liane tried to sit up, but her head span and she fell back down onto the mattress.

"Like I've been put through an old clothes wringer. How's everyone else?" she asked.

"Hannah and Scorpius have been by to check up on you when you missed breakfast, and Slughorn has been by to deliver our detention assignments; you're with Macmillan," Olivia said.

"Bertie?" Liane asked.

Olivia shook her head.

"Nope; apparently the Defence Professor has something particular for you, your assignment is for you and you alone," she explained, and Liane groaned.

"Fantastic," she said, pushing herself upright.

"Indeed. Meantime, Remy has said that "if the auror wannabe wakes up, she can meet me in the Grand Hall" so I think they'll still be there," Olivia said, turning back to her desk. Liane got up, showered and dressed in Olivia's en suite, and walked back out into the Slytherin Common room.

"Liane," Hannah called out, rushing over from the study nook near the door and crashing into Liane, "are you alright?"

"Hey, yeah, just tired that's all," Liane replied, hugging Hannah tight.

"We were really worried about you," she said, pulling away, "you had us all really nervous."

"Trust me, it wasn't something I'd planned on. How are you guys?" Liane asked.

"Still pretty tired, but more concerned about you to be honest. Slughorn brought the detention slips around; they're on the table with Scorpius," Hannah said, and Liane followed her over to the table. The page was extensive, even with just the Slytherin names it was packed full, showing how many of the older students were caught as well. At the bottom of the page were the first years; Scorpius and Remy were meeting Professor Delacroix in the trophy room, Olivia and Hannah meeting Professor Longbottom in greenhouse three. And there, with twice the time allocation, at the bottom of the list, with Professor Macmillan in the Entrance Hall, was Liane.

"Well, I guess this puts a dampener on the Gryffindor party train, then," Liane said, dropping into one of the couches.

"You're kidding, right?" Scorpius said with a snort, "the Gryffindors track the success of their parties by total-detention-hours."

"Oh, well, I guess my double will be celebrated then," Liane replied, rolling her eyes.

"I think that's probably closer to the truth than you realise. Come on, Remy's waiting for you, you'd better get get going," Scorpius said. Liane nodded, stretching and yawning, and pushed herself up off the couch again.

"You're right; they'll probably bitch at me all day tomorrow if I don't go and see them. You guys sure you're alright?" she asked, and the others nodded.

"Go; you should probably get something to eat anyway," Hannah said.

Liane made her way up from the Slytherin dorms in the dungeons to the Great Hall, finding Remy sitting, their face hidden behind a low fringe and large sunglasses, at the Slytherin table, picking at a pork pie, while Yvette sat next to them, her head resting on her hand.

"Hey," Liane said, picking a grape from a fruit platter and throwing it at Remy, before grabbing another and popping it into her mouth.

"Hey yourself, missy," Remy replied coolly, flinching lazily away from the grape, "you scared us all half to death last night, I hope you realise."

"I do, I'm sorry guys, I really should know better," Liane replied, sitting down across from the other two.

"That you very much should; you may have been preemptively accepted into Duellers, Liane, but you aren't someone who can go running off on your own if you catch sight of something mysterious. Leave the Dark Wizard hunting to those who have _finished_ their education, rather than having just started it," Remy replied with a scowl.

"Wow, you almost sound concerned," Liane said with a grin. Remy's scowl deepened, and they very pointedly raised their index and middle fingers as their head drooped into the crook of their arm.

"We _were_ worried, Liane; you're our friend, and if we hadn't have been there you might have bled out. When we found you like that, it was awful," Yvette said, and Liane's smile disappeared.

"I know, I'm sorry, I really am. I promise I won't ever go running off like that on my own again, no matter what," Liane replied.

"Well, now that's sorted," Remy said, sitting upright once more, "we've got four hours of daylight left before we start our detentions; there's an unofficial Duellers meet going on on the south lawn, I thought we'd check that out."

Liane's face lit up. "Hell yes; now you're talking."

"Come on; grab some food and we'll head off," Remy said, and Liane grabbed a trio of pork pies in one hand and started stuffing apples into her pockets with the other.

"Charming," Yvette said pulling a face as Liane stuffed one pie almost entirely into her mouth. Liane swallowed, stuck out her tongue, and finished off the pie.

Following Remy out of the Great Hall, through the Entrance Hall and out onto the lawns, the two girls immediately saw the small crowd gathered up near the castle, watching the activities down below.

Liane, sitting down with the others, immediately started picking out people she recognised. Booker and Wanda were there, as were Jeremy, Alastor and Lion. Mietta the Charms STA was there as well, and Remy pointed out Tania Haywood, the Gryffindor Transfiguration STA, a stunning Amazonian girl the same height as Lion, with skin the colour of ebony and hair that was shaved up one side. All up there were about twenty-four of them, Alastor and Jeremy calling out the plays as they went about some warm-up drills.

"A squad, shields. B squad, breakers; go go go!" Jeremy called out, and the group split into teams, lining up in pairs according to year-level. The first group started raising the strongest shields they could; Liane spotted a few prism shields from the younger members, some blue bubble shields like the one that had blocked her stunner the night before, and even a few she didn't recognise. Once all the shields were up, the second group all started casting spells that pirouetted through the air like giant drills made of red and lavender light, smacking into the shields. A few cracked, one broke, but the rest held, and once the A squad member whose shield had failed was clear, another wave of shield breaking hexes were fired.

"Impressive aren't they?" came a voice behind Liane, and she turned to see Albus sitting down on the other side of Yvette.

"Some of them, yeah; I wish I knew that shield breaker spell, it looks useful," she replied, looking back as the second wave took out two more younger members.

"Breaking Drill Hex, someone was calling it. I daresay you'll find it easily enough, if that lot don't just teach it to you straight up," Albus replied.

"I'm willing to bet that I'll find out quickly enough. So, you joining?" Liane asked. Albus shook his head.

"Not until second-year; Dad was adamant," he replied. Liane raised an eyebrow.

" _Your_ dad saying you can't join up with a self-defense class? Didn't he _teach_ the last one?" she asked. Albus shrugged.

"He seems to think if we get into it too early we'll go looking for trouble; like that ever stopped him. James joined and flunked out straight away, so I figure I should probably spend some time getting around my schoolwork before even considering it," he replied.

"And yet you joined the Olympiad?" Liane asked.

"Hey, he never said anything about not doing _that_ ," Albus said with a grin, and Liane laughed.

As they watched, squad B had whittled squad A down to Booker and Lion, but the two of them were holding off Tania and Mietta's onslaught with apparent ease. After a moment, Donovan nodded to the two girls, who swapped over targets, Mietta blowing through Booker's shield like a bullet through paper, Tania jabbing her wand into the ground. After a second, a spear of iron burst out of the ground under Lion's bare feet, splintering into a crystalline tangle of blades. Lion's shield disappeared as he shuffled around on top of the blades, but when they stopped he looked up and laughed, a hearty, genuine chortle. Liane had to strain to see, but where the blades rested against Lion's feet, there was the tell-tale orange glow of a shield straining against damage.

"He's shielded all over?" Liane asked aloud, as Donovan destroyed the blade tangle and Lion dropped to the ground.

"Points to squad B for successfully destroying all legitimate shields on the field. Lion and Tania, both are disqualified for use of unsanctioned spells in training," Alastor said, and Lion laughed again.

"No sanctioned spells in a fight," he said, punching Donovan in the shoulder.

"There are in mine," Donovan replied, and Lion merely skipped away, picking Tania up and spinning her around, kissing her on the cheek as she struggled to break his grip.

"Do that again Lyman and I'll break your face," she yelled, and Lion dropped her and dropped to his knees.

"Oh, Princess, I beg of you, please forgive this humble kitty," he said, clasping his hands together.

"You and humble are barely acquainted," Tania replied, but a smile appeared on her face and she grabbed Lion's shoulder, pulling him upright, "but you are forgiven," she said, kissing him gently on the lips.

"So Lion's real name is Lyman?" Liane asked, turning to Albus.

"Patrick Lyman, yeah, although Tania is the only one to use it. She actually is a princess, too, although her family are in exile from their home in Swaziland," Albus explained.

Liane looked down at the two of them, and let out a half-chuckle.

"Gryffindor gets its share of characters, doesn't it?" she asked, and Albus laughed.

"Slytherin makes up for it with Remy," he replied, and Remy tilted their head backwards to grin at the three of them.

As they sat and watched, the Duellers moved back into their next exercise, as Alastor shielded himself and acted as a moving target for the younger members to practise targeting under fire, with the older members firing sleeping spells at them at the same time.

"So changed your mind yet about whether you want to join?" Scorpius asked, sitting down on Liane's opposite side from Yvette and Albus. Liane shook her head.

"Not a chance of it; if anything, I'm even more excited now," she replied.

"Well then, I guess I'll be seeing you there," he said, his face turned towards the entertainment. Liane turned to Scorpius, missing Albus turning to look at him as well.

"Really? Excellent; that's three definites amongst us, you, me, and Remy," she exclaimed.

"I never said I was joining," Remy called back, without turning around.

"Don't care, you are," Liane shot back.

"What about Bertie?" Yvette asked.

"He said he might, but I'm still not definite," Liane replied.

When the last of the younger students dropped, the older students broke their ranks and went to revive them, directing each one as they woke to the sidelines to rest. When the field was clear once more, they paired off and began trading blows for the others to block, using spells considerably more powerful and dangerous than the ones being cast in Defence class.

As the day wound down, Liane and the others said their goodbyes to one another, heading off to meet their various detentions. Liane leant against the wall in the Entrance Hall, watching as the rest of the student body trickled in and out of the Great Hall for dinner and her friends went their separate ways to their own detentions.

At last, ten minutes after the detention was due to start, Professor Macmillan arrived, his wand in his hand and his robes trailing in the air behind him.

"Wand out, Langford. Follow me," he said, heading to the main doors. Liane drew her wand and hurried after the Professor, rushing out into the dusky twilight. Professor Macmillan led her down past the lawns, towards the path that travelled around the lake towards the forest.

"Professor?" Liane asked, catching up to the professor.

"Hurry along, Langford; expediency is the key tonight," he replied, not turning back to see if she was keeping up.

As they approached the edge of the forest, Liane began to pull back.

"Professor, what are we doing?" she asked.

"Come now, Langford, you're not going to balk at rushing headlong into danger, now, are you?" Professor Macmillan replied. Liane stopped.

"After getting cut up last night, yes, sir, I am," she replied. Professor Macmillan turned towards Liane and smiled.

"Don't let one close call knock that fire out of you, Liane," he said, before continuing on into the forest. Liane paused, hesitating, before it occurred to her that she was standing alone at the edge of the Forbidden Forest near to sundown, and gripping her wand tightly she ran after the professor.


	9. Chapter 9: Cave in the Dark Forest

Chapter 9: The Cave in the Dark Forest

When Liane caught up with the professor, he was standing wand held high, the end of it lit up. Liane raised her own wand, watching the professor for any sign of what to expect.

"Professor, you still haven't told me what we're doing?" Liane asked.

"Investigations of the reports from yourself and Prefect Mi have presented some...varied theories of the origins of this mysterious figure. Among the many there is the ancient rumour of magic capable beings, shunned from society, living in the Forbidden Forest. We're here to attempt to put that rumour to rest," Professor Macmillan explained.

Liane frowned.

"You're not talking about...Really? Professor, we're vampire hunting?" she asked incredulously.

"Don't be absurd, Liane," the Professor said with a grin, "everyone knows there's no vampires in the forest. Wand up," he said, before turning around and walking deeper into the forest. Liane rushed to catch up, creating her Private Light as she did so, her eyes roving the trees for any sign of movement. The professor looked at her spell and grunted approvingly.

"Is that what you would do in this situation if you were leading the expedition, Liane?" he asked.

"No, sir," Liane replied.

"No?" the professor asked, "what would you do differently?"

"Well, sir, ideally neither of us would be using light spells, and I'd use the Simple Night Vision charm. It's what I used last night," Liane explained, "that's assuming I had to do it this year; ideally I'd prefer to have gotten the hang of _Sensoria_."

"Clever; and impressive knowledge of sixth-year charms. So, continuing the exercise; presume we were attacked by one of the denizens of the forest, how would you defend yourself?" Professor Macmillan asked.

"Well, I suppose that depends," Liane said.

"Yes?" the professor asked, turning his head.

"On whether I would be punished further for burning the forest to the ground."

The professor tripped forward, and stopped, laughing.

"Ha, yes, well, presuming that we _did_ want to keep Scotland green, how else?" he asked, chuckling.

"Well," Liane shrugged, "Diffindo, Reducto, Incendio, Frigideiro followed by a Flipendo, and these are just the spells I know."

"You certainly didn't learn those from Flitwick, did you? Very... aggressive spells," the professor said.

"I thought you were asking me how I would fight back?" Liane asked, confused.

"I asked how you would defend yourself. You mention no attempt to shield yourself, although I know perfectly well that you can do so. Nothing to slow or stun your assailant, nothing to speed your escape; you only thought to kill or maim your opponent."

Liane frowned, looking at her wand.

"I hadn't thought of that," she said quietly.

"When I'd heard of what you had done, I knew the type of student you were; brash, self-assured and too talented for your own safety. So we're here to test your problem solving in a non-violent way. Now follow me," he said, before he picked up speed, leading Liane deeper into the forest.

The further into the forest they went, the darker it got, until Liane cast two more lights to hang around her head. When the sun set at last, Liane couldn't see further than the small circle of light produced by the light spells, and the Professor dispelled his own.

"So, how is this going to work?" Liane asked. Professor Macmillan waved his wand, and the trees bent away from one another to show pair of cave mouths in a hill up ahead.

"You're going to go through there, while I take the one beside it. We will meet up at the other end after having dealt with everything we find inside," he answered. Liane looked at the caves, barely visible in the glimmer of light, and frowned.

"You're joking, right? Or this is a pre-arranged test and there's nothing in there that poses a real threat?" she asked.

"Ha. You're first year, so it's understandable. No, Liane; truthfully, the fact is I've already done a quick flyby of this area, and I believe you're capable of handling it, but that's it. If we run into anything unexpected I'm trusting my own abilities to get us to safety," he explained, and Liane turned back to the caves.

"And if I refuse?" she asked.

"Then we will return to the castle, and you will have to make up your detention another day. Say, for example, on Wednesday evening," the professor replied.

Liane's head snapped to the professor.

"You wouldn't," she said in a low voice.

"I absolutely can and will. It's your choice Liane; the lessons to learn are available to you, but if you're not serious about them then there's no point," the professor replied.

Liane turned back to the cave and set her jaw. Straightening her back, she raised her head, tightened her hand on her wand, and dispelled her lights. With a flourish, Liane waved her wand across her face.

" _Vudenuit_ ," she cast, and once more the world was risen to a colourless greyscale line drawing, allowing her to see through the shadowy forest. With a nod, the professor strode on ahead, leading Liane to the cave entrance before moving on to the second. Once he was in place, Professor Macmillan turned back to Liane and nodded, and she nodded back to him in return, and he headed inside without any further hesitation.

Liane turned to her own cave, and even with her enhanced vision, she was not able to see very deep into the tunnel, due to a bend up ahead. Swallowing hard, she stepped into the cave, her wand raised high, walking down as far as the bend in the tunnel. Pausing briefly, Liane turned back to look at the cave mouth, and the forest beyond. Taking in another deep breath, Liane walked around the bend in the tunnel, and the ground gave way beneath her.

When Liane hit the bottom of the sudden drop, she threw her shoulder forward into a roll and landed heavily on her back. When she opened her eyes, she threw her wand up into the air and looked around wildly. The room was empty of movement, a slim crack in the ground filled with nothing more than dirt, stones and weather beaten bracken, blown in from the cave mouth up above. Making sure to keep her wand up, Liane clambered to her feet, looking around for any way up back to the entrance. The way she'd come was a nearly vertical incline, the only direction she could go was forward, following the length of the crevasse.

"Well, this looks fun," Liane muttered to herself, creeping forward. As she put her foot down, however, it slid forward slightly, and Liane had to catch herself on the wall to stop from crashing to the ground again. Looking down, all she saw was the cavern floor, a patch slightly darker under her foot than the spot where she had crashed. In fact, now that she looked carefully, the walls too seemed darker as well; pulling her hand away, Liane rubbed her fingers together and found that they were wet. Looking up, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, up until a fat droplet of water hit her in the face.

"Ah!" Liane cried, wiping the water from her face, before taking a step back and looking up again. After a couple of seconds, another droplet fell, and then another, until at last Liane spotted it; a tiny crack in the cave ceiling, through which water was pouring at an increasing rate, most of it clinging to the walls but the occasional run too heavy to fight gravity and dropping straight to the ground. Liane raised her wand.

" _Frigideiro_ ," she chanted, and an icy wind blasted from her wand, covering the ceiling in a thick layer of frost. When she lowered her wand once more, Liane looked up at the crack for a moment approvingly, before stepping forward once more.

She had only gone two or three steps when she heard the long, drawn out groan of tortured stone, before a loud crack. Liane turned just in time to see a large section of the ceiling give way, followed by a torrent of water that flooded into the crevasse, lifting Liane off her feet.

The water was freezing, its icy temperature not in any way assisted by the freezing spell Liane had cast. Liane wanted nothing more than to fire off a few warming charms, but she was too busy trying to protect her head and body as she was washed down the crevasse, smashing into the cave walls with each twist in the crack. Up ahead, Liane could hear the telltale roar of falling water, and she began to panic. As another bend in the tunnel approached, Liane resisted the urge to curl into a protective ball; instead she pointed her wand at the cave wall and shouted,

" _Reducto_." There was a shower of dust and ash as a sudden hole appeared in the cave wall, a semicircular divet just deep enough for Liane to catch hold of the lip and pull herself into, pulling herself out of the current. The water still rushed into the hole, each swirl threatening to carry Liane off again, but she managed to hold herself in place long enough to catch her breath. Once she had done so, she gripped her wand tight and pointed it at the inside of her little cave.

" _Diffindo_ ," she chanted, and a long, scored line appeared in the rock. She repeated the process, over and over, cold and exhaustion gnawing at her bones, before there was a ledge, up and out of the water for her to climb onto. Once she was out of the worst of the torrent, she pointed her wand at herself.

" _Thermos_." The warmth filled her body, and despite the cold of her still damp clothes, she felt the edge of panic ease out of her. Calmer now, Liane began to think about her options. She didn't know where the water had come from, and she didn't know how deep the crevasse was beyond the waterfall, as she'd only heard it, not seen it. She could wait it out, hoping the water would be less than enough to fill the cave, and then she'd only need to find a way to walk out, however if there _was_ enough water to fill the tunnels and she waited she would surely drown. Alternatively she could try and work out some way of fighting the water and getting back up to the surface, but that ran the risk of sending her over the side. She might also try to dig her way out, but that ran the risk of collapsing the cave on top of her, or else bubbling her in an area with a limited oxygen supply. She wasn't yet capable of casting the bubblehead charm, so swimming out was not an appropriate option.

Liane looked back at the coursing river directly below her elbow, her eyes narrowed. Bracing herself on the ledge with her legs, Liane reached out with her free hand, and aimed her wand across her body, casting another cutting charm at the ceiling of her small divot and catching the chunk of rock that fell.

"Well, Wanda, let's see if your theory about me holds true," Liane muttered, drawing the chunk of rock in to her body and pressing her wand to it. Closing her eyes, she focussed, feeling the weight of the rock in her hand and picturing the image of what she wanted. Worse than simply changing the structure of the stone, Liane was focussing on how each part of the stone was being transmuted into a particular shape.

To her shock, Liane felt the feel of the stone under her frostbitten fingers begin to change, and she opened her eyes. In her hand, no longer a chunk of stone, Liane held a folded canvas block.

"Son of a...It worked," she breathed, her shock and relief almost causing her to drop her new creation. Without wasting any more time, she pressed her wand to the canvas at a corner where she had left a deliberate gap.

" _Ventus_ ," she chanted, and her wand began to produce a jet of wind, filling the canvas creation with air. Slowly, far slower than Liane had anticipated, it began to take shape, until eventually it opened up into a slim, makeshift canvas inflatable raft. Liane had to struggle to hold on, as the level of the water had risen and was still moving fast, but as the raft took shape she pushed a foot out off the ledge and wedged the raft in place against the wall of her cave. With her hand free, Liane closed the flap of canvas against the opening she'd used to fill it with air.

" _Colloportus_ ," she chanted, and with a flash of pink light the flap adhered to the canvas, sealing up the raft.

Now that the raft was completed, Liane hesitated. She'd been unsure if the raft would even work, now that it was time to transition herself from the ledge to the raft she was balking at the prospect. Taking in a deep breath, Liane closed her eyes and rolled, flipping over the leg that was holding the raft in place and spreading herself on her stomach facing back up the crevasse.

The raft immediately dropped out into the current, pulled towards the next bend. Liane pointed her wand downstream, scrunched up her face, and pushed everything she had left into the next spell.

" _Ventus,_ " she yelled, and another jet of wind blasted from her wand. The raft stopped, current fighting against wind, Liane balancing in the middle.

Liane felt her wand grow warm in her hand, and felt the familiar subtle vibration. Everything went black as her night vision charm abruptly deactivated, and the last thing Liane felt before she passed out was the sharp sting of the spray of water against her face suddenly doubling in speed.

Liane wasn't sure, when her eyes opened, whether she was really awake at first. There was no difference in what she could see with her eyes open or not, everything was completely black. Trying to raise her head, Liane finally heard the sound of rushing water off in the distance, and she realised she was lying on dry dirt. Sudden panic gripped her as she realised she was no longer holding onto her wand, and Liane brushed her hands across the ground beside her trying to find it. When she couldn't, Liane tried to sit up, but found her body wouldn't respond. Her panic rose as she tried to roll over onto her stomach, and could barely lift herself a few centimetres before collapsing back onto the ground. Clenching her teeth, Liane threw herself to the side, and managed to roll over, her face resting on the stony ground.

Liane's hand fell upon a smooth, flat expanse of stone, and as she traced the edged with her fingers she realised it was her raft, the transfiguration having collapsed without returning the shape to the chunk of stone. Pushing herself up onto her elbows, Liane dragged herself over to the stone plate and felt around, trying to locate her wand. Still unable to find it, Liane felt the exhaustion and emotion threaten to overwhelm her, and tears stung her eyes as she collapsed on the remains of her raft.

After a while, a glimmer of light caught Liane's attention. Pushing her head up, she turned towards the light, trying to spot where it was coming from. In the gleam of the light, Liane could see the collapsed hole in the ground she had fallen through when she'd entered the cave.

"Liane?" came the voice of Professor Macmillan.

"Here," Liane croaked, before starting to cough.

"Liane?" the professors called again.

Liane took in a deep breath. "Here!" she yelled, before collapsing into another coughing fit.

"Liane!" The light suddenly blossomed into a painful nova in Liane's vision as the professor rounded the corner.

"Look out," she moaned, her arm flung across her face. Professor Macmillan waved his wand and the hole filled up with loose rubble, allowing him to step over the hole and stride across to Liane's side.

"Oh, Merlin what happened? Liane? Liane can you hear me?" the professor asked.

"My wand…" Liane croaked. Professor Macmillan looked around, and with a wave of his wand Liane's wand lept to his hand from the corner of the tunnel.

"It's alright, Liane, I've got it. Can you move?" he asked. Liane shook her head.

"I can't move my legs," she replied.

"Alright, stay still; I'm going to get you to the hospital wing," he replied, before grabbing a stone from the ground and pressing it into Liane's hand. Pointing his own wand at the stone, the professor gripped the stone and Liane's hand.

" _Portus_ ," he chanted, and Liane felt a pulling sensation behind her navel, and there was a lurching as the light from the professor's wand twisted in Liane's vision.

The next thing Liane knew, she was being lifted onto a bed at the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, and the defence professor was calling out to Madam Pomfrey. As Pomfrey carried over a potion to Liane, holding the bottle to her lips so that she could drink, Liane looked over to the defence professor and saw as he cast the _priori incantatem_ spell Oliver Wood had used on it before. As the defence professor turned back to look at Liane the potion took hold, and her body was flooded with warmth. Liane felt her eyelids get heavy, and within seconds she was once more asleep.

Liane opened her eyes to see early morning sunlight gleaming through the windows of the Hospital Wing. Turning her head, she saw the rest of the Hospital Wing was empty, quiet and still; even Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be see. Pushing herself upright, Liane checked herself over to find that she was once again in perfect condition; for all the incredible things magic could do, it's ability to heal would still be one of the most incredible in Liane's mind. She was dressed in simple white cotton pajamas, and her robes and clothes had been cleaned and were sitting in a neatly folded pile beside her bed, her wand sitting atop it.

After a short while as she lay awake in bed, Madam Pomfrey returned from wherever she had gone, and seeing Liane awake, she walked over to give Liane a final inspection.

"Well, you seem to be in order. I spoke at length with the defence professor last night, he explained what happened. That being said, I really must stress that you ought to be more careful, young lady," Madam Pomfrey said sternly. Liane let out a short laugh.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, although I'm willing to bet this will not be the last time I'm here, not with Duellers starting this week and the Olympiad coming up," she replied, and Madam Pomfrey merely scowled.

"I will definitely be having words with the Headmistress about all these highly inappropriate situations to be putting first years in. You may go; leave the pajamas on the bed when you leave, the elves will take care of them," she said, before bustling off to another bed. Liane drew the privacy curtain closed, dressed, and left without another word, heading straight down to the Great Hall. Breakfast had already been laid out, but it was still too early for most of the student body; Liane saw Booker and Jeremy and gave the two of them a brief wave, before sitting down by herself.

To Liane, the immediate lesson that she had learnt from the previous night's detention was that she was capable of the kind of problem solving that the defence professor had intimated that she lacked after all; she'd even managed to perform a complex free transfiguration, something she had up until now been completely hopeless at. It also told her that Wanda's theory of Liane's fear-motivated talent for learning advanced magic was pretty spot on, although Liane wasn't totally sure she liked the implications of that particular lesson.

Suddenly, as Liane thought carefully about the events of that weekend, a memory stirred, something that had been said to her that she had pushed to the back of her mind.

Wolfing down a piece of toast and grabbing an orange from the fruit bowl, Liane leapt to her feet and raced out of the Great Hall, rushing up the stairs to the library.

When Liane arrived ten minutes late for Transfiguration she was surprised to see she was not the last one to arrive; Albus was also not there. Taking a seat between Cassandra and Remy, Liane sat down as quietly as she could, Professor Weasley thankfully choosing to ignore her.

"Where have you _been_?" Remy asked as she sat down, "when you didn't show up last night Hannah started freaking out. She stayed up all night in Olivia's room waiting to see either you or Professor Slughorn saying you'd been attacked again and were in the Hospital Wing."

"Er, well, I _was_ in the Hospital Wing," Liane replied.

"What?" Remy and Cassandra said in unison, eliciting a chorus of shushing sounds from those around them.

"I wasn't attacked; detention just took a wrong turn. I went with the defence professor out into the forest, and we went into this system of caves. The floor gave way and I had to get myself out of a flooding tunnel on my own; the professor found me again and took me to the Hospital Wing where I stayed the night," Liane explained in a whisper.

"Merlin, Liane, we were worried sick. The professor took you into the forest? Who would be so careless?" Remy asked, so livid their hair was shooting straight backwards from their face and going shock white.

"We're glad you're alright," Cassandra said.

"I am too; I nearly didn't make it, I had to transfigure a hunk of stone into a raft to get out," she said. Remy raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, what? You transfigured stone into a _raft_?" they asked, incredulously.

"Yes, _me_ ," Liane said with a scowl, "I don't quite know _why_ , but I get better at magic when I fear for my life. Wanda figured it out first," Liane explained.

"I'm not sure if that sounds useful or horrible," Cassandra said.

"Well, I'd like it more if it didn't mean it was the _only_ way I could get the hang of these sorts of basics, but it's helped me out a couple of times," Liane explained with a shrug.

"Miss Langford; since you seem so eager to casually disregard the topic of today's class, perhaps you would like to show your classmates how this is done?" Professor Weasley asked aloud. Liane looked up to see the professor standing beside a table which had a crow standing beside two crystal water glasses. On the blackboard in the corner of the room, Liane saw that the class was on 'animal to inanimate transformation'.

"Yes, sir," Liane said, standing up. Grabbing her wand from her robes, she walked down to the front of the class, passing Albus as he entered. As Albus took the only seat remaining, beside Scorpius, Liane stepped up onto the dais and walked over to the other side of the table from Professor Weasley.

"Well, then Miss Langford; show the class how you would transform this bird into a goblet?" the professor asked. Liane looked at the crow, raised her wand and chanted,

" _Ereverto_." Instantly, the crow turned into a crystal wineglass, albeit still appearing black in colour. There were a scattered few students applauding, and Professor Weasley was nodding his head.

"Well done, Miss Langford, although I will not be awarding points for this effort; you seem to have forgotten that this syllabus is focussing on _free_ transfiguration, not charms," he said, before pointing his own wand at Liane's glass.

" _Finite Incantatem_ ," he cast, and Liane's glass turned once more into a bird, who ruffled its feathers.

"Now, Miss Langford, care to try again?" the professor asked.

Liane turned to the bird and raised her wand once more. Picturing in her mind the perfect, clear crystal goblets on the table, she imagined the bird turning into one in a smooth, slow movement, each frame of change mapped out perfectly in her head. When she was sure she had done it, Liane opened her eyes.

The bird squawked at her, completely unchanged.

"Thank you, Miss Langford; you may return to your seat," Professor Weasley said, and there was another scattering of bored applause as he stepped away. Liane paused for a moment, before straightening her back.

"No; let me try again," she said. Professor Weasley shook his head.

"You've given it a try, Miss Langford, next time you will remember to listen in class," he replied.

"No, I _know_ I can do it, I just…I need one more try. Please?" she pleaded. The professor paused for a moment, looking at Liane, before he nodded.

Liane pointed her wand once more at the bird, and closed her eyes. Only this time, she didn't picture the bird. Instead, she pictured the night of the party, of kneeling, in the hallway, bleeding from her shoulder, facing down a vastly superior opponent wreathed in face concealing shadows. She pictured that moment, where she had genuinely thought she was about to die, that at any moment the spell would tear through her throat and strike her down in an instant. Only then, when her hair began to rise on the back of her neck and her breathing became sharp and shallow, did Liane picture the bird turning into a water glass.

There was a stunned silence in the room, and when she opened her eyes once more Liane saw before her a similar glass to the one she had created with the charm. It was glass, and goblet shaped, although still black in colour and now appeared to have a talon for a stem, but either way it was no longer a bird. There were cheers from the students as Liane relaxed, and she could swear she saw, just for a moment, Scorpius and Albus bumping fists, before she looked to the professor.

"Well done, Liane; ten points to Slytherin. Now, you may return to your seat," he said, and Liane nodded, thankful, and moved back up to her seat. As she sat down again, Liane sat back in her chair and smiled to herself. Without turning her head, she simply said;

"See, I told you I could do it." Remy elbowed Liane in the side without looking at her.

After lunch, by which point Liane had filled in the others on her adventures the previous evening, the first years made their way to Defence class. As they stood outside the massive lecture theatre waiting to be let in, Alastor Donovan arrived on his own, without the professor.

"Liane, are you alright?" he asked. Liane looked up in surprise.

"Uh, good, yeah; fine. I suppose you heard?" she asked.

"Heard; I've been taking the professor's classes all day. Apparently he's been with the Headmistress since five this morning," Donovan replied. Liane's eyes widened.

"He's not-" she began, but Donovan waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it, Liane, he's not going to be in any permanent trouble, I don't think," he said with a smile.

As they filed in, Donovan took to the stage.

"Put your books down, everyone, grab your wands and come down to the front. I've been asked to take the professor's classes today, and I have a little exercise for you all. Line up along that wall," he said, pointing to one side of the stage area. Liane dropped her books and followed the rest of the class down to the stage, taking a spot between Yvette and Bertie. Meanwhile, Donovan had conjured a little, dimly glowing blue sphere which hung in the air at the back of the stage, with a dangling circular plate attached to the bottom painted with a red and yellow target.

"In conditions where you are fighting another armed opponent, you will not always be able to maintain ideal spellcasting stance. Combat is dynamic, and so to protect yourself so must you be; this is true of dark wizards, to dragons, to nixies. So, todays lesson; hitting a moving target whilst simultaneously avoiding being hit.

"This," Donovan said, pointing to the blue sphere, "is a simple training target, a less dangerous version of the ones we use in the Duellers club. It will move in erratic patterns of speed and direction across the rear of the stage, and will target anyone standing within its field of vision, which I will mark. If you stand still and block, its spells will increase in rate of fire. If you dodge, you will have to readjust your aim as you move. For this exercise you will use the simple pinching hex only, and the sphere will use a charm that acts like splodges of glowing paint."

"Now," he said, waving his wand and producing a shimmering line of yellow light in front of the students, "who would like to go first?"

No-one moved at first, and as Liane was about to raise her hand Mitchell raised his.

"I'll go," he said, and Donovan nodded, stepping back across the line as Mitchell moved to the front of the stage. When he was in place, Mitchell nodded to Donovan, who returned the nod and raised his wand.

"Ready; begin!" he shouted, and the blue sphere brightened, before rushing across the back of the stage, positioning itself in the corner as Mitchell raised his wand.

" _Pin-Cha_ ," Mitchell cast, and the hex flew at the sphere, which darted out of the way at the last moment. There was a brief swelling of the light from the sphere before two purple darts launched from its centre, the first missing Mitchell as he dove to the side, the second grazing his leg, leaving a bright, glowing purple streak across his robes. As he landed, Mitchell turned and fired off another hex, which again missed by a wide margin as the sphere bounced away. This time, however, as the sphere slowed to a stop, Mitchell was already back up and running for the other side of the stage, and the return fire missed him with both shots.

Sensing the change in Mitchell's strategy, the blue sphere pulsed bright once more, and fired another three darts, only this time they were placed to intersect with Mitchell's path as he ran. Reacting without thinking, Mitchell hurled himself to the ground, sliding under the shots, but he was helpless to do anything more as the sphere darted to the side once again and fired two shots into Mitchell's back.

"Excellent try, Mister Munroe, bad luck there though. Come on back," Donovan said, and the blue sphere powered down once more.

"Now," Donovan said turning back to the class, "who would like to go next."

This time, without any hesitation, Liane raised her hand. Bertie looked at Liane with a raised eyebrow.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," she replied, "Mister Donovan if it's alright I'd like a go."

"By all means; let's see if your practise has paid off," Donovan said, gesturing for Liane to take to the front of the stage. Drawing her wand, Liane walked to the same spot Mitchell had started, and nodded at Donovan.

"Begin!" he cried, and the blue sphere once more came to life. Liane dropped into the same fighting stance she'd used when practising with Wanda, and kept a close eye on the sphere. As it started to move she thrust outwards with her wand to a point along the sphere's path.

" _Pin-Cha_ ," she shouted, and the hex flew across the room to hit the far wall centimeters ahead of the sphere, which stopped suddenly and began to drift back the other way. As Liane adjusted her aim, the sphere began to shoot at her, and so rather than ducking Liane crouched down, lining up her shot so that she was able to block the first spell that looked like it might actually hit her without breaking her aim. Firing another hex, Liane struck the sphere, just missing the target below it.

The sphere turned from blue to red, and Liane ducked low as a scything arc of spells came flying at her. After the arc had passed overhead, Liane launched herself back onto her feet and began to sprint back towards the line of students. As the sphere bounced away, looking to start firing ahead of her, Liane feinted forward and threw herself backwards, landing on the ground on her back, her wand already pointing at the sphere. Before it could stop and move on again, Liane fired off as many pinching hexes as she could, the third one striking the target with a loud gong sound. The sphere turned back from red to blue and powered down again, and Liane stood up from where she was lying to a scattering of applause.

"Well done, Liane; you're improving well. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday with a proper one of these. Okay, you can sit back down now," he said, and Liane nodded, just now registering that she was sweating and breathing hard. Moving back to her seat, Liane sat and watched as the rest of the first years had their go against the training sphere. Bertie was next, taking to the stage as Donovan reactivated the sphere, leaping into action as the first few shots came without warning. It was heartening to think that she was capable of taking on lessons she learned in the heat of personal danger, but the heavy thumping of Liane's heart told her she was nowhere near as fit as she would need to be to keep up with the competition.

The next morning Liane woke early enough to catch Booker in the Common Room, and the two of them nodded to each other as Liane made her way outside. Instead of her heavy robes and school uniform, Liane had instead donned a plain grey cotton tracksuit, and her wand was strapped to her waist under her jumper. Pulling the hood up against the cold late September air, Liane found the footpath leading around the lake and began to jog.

The grounds were grey, the sun only just peaking over the horizon and barely illuminating the path, but Liane was paying too much attention to her jogging to notice much of the scenery anyway. Liane had run around Chester a lot before coming to Hogwarts, although she tended to prefer running in the afternoons. It was a routine she'd all but abandoned since discovering magic, her thoughts of absolute mastery over spellwork having caused her to neglect her own physical fitness. It was clear to her now, though, that the kind of environment she excelled in was an uncompromising one, and so getting back into running was the first step.

After the first half hour, Liane saw a shadow on the ground in front of her that wasn't hers, and she nearly tripped. Taking a quick look around, she saw Booker and Jeremy were running together, a short distance behind her.

"I thought you said you weren't a morning person?" Booker asked.

"Thinking that might have to change," Liane replied, and the two older boys smiled. They ran together as the sun rose, the light glinting off first the tall north tower and then the southern tower over the grand doors to the Entrance Hall, before finally falling across the forest and then the lake, lighting up the whole area. When they finally came back around to the castle, having covered the entire distance around the lake, it was nearing eight. Liane dropped onto the lawns by a tall elm tree on the path leading back up towards the main stairs, breathing heavily. The two boys stopped just outside the shade of the tree, and began stretching.

"Good run, Langford," Jeremy said with a smile.

"Thanks; you're not too bad yourself. How's Jessica?" she asked.

"She was released from St. Mungo's yesterday with a clean bill of health, and will be back in classes by the end of the week," he replied.

"Good. We didn't get along, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone," Liane said, unzipping her jumper and wiping her face with the inner lining.

"She'll be alright, Liane, you don't have to worry. If you and Wanda hadn't come along when you did she might not have gone as well as she did," Jeremy said, straightening up.

"So you don't think Wanda was responsible?" Liane asked, leaning on her knees.

"Of course not; Wanda's a Dueller. The Warrior's Code, a bond as strong as family; beyond training that trust is as important a part of defence as anything else. And I believe your story about the night of the Room of Requirement party," Jeremy said, and Liane nodded.

"Good to hear."

She sat like that for a moment longer, before pushing herself upright.

"I better go have breakfast and take a shower; I really don't want to be late for Charms. I'll see you tomorrow night?" Liane asked. Jeremy's smile broadened.

"Absolutely," he replied.

Liane waved goodbye to the two of them and made her way up to the castle. So close to the first classes, the Great Hall was packed, and Liane stopped only long enough to grab a bacon roll and an apple before heading back to the Slytherin Common Room.

Remy, still in their pajamas, was sitting in the study nook below the stairs, lounging on a beanbag.

"Hey," Liane said, coming down the stairs, "you're not going to breakfast?"

"It's only Charms first, and I'm too tired. When did you get up?" they asked.

"I don't know exactly; five thirty maybe?" Liane said, stretching.

"Merlin, that sounds exhausting," Remy replied, "what on earth were you doing all that time?"

"Running, with Booker and Jeremy Price," Liane said, "after yesterday's Defence class I figure I'm going to need to step up with the physical side of things."

"Ergh, you're probably right; my legs and back are still killing me."

"Well, make sure you grab something to eat," Liane said before heading back to Olivia's suite to grab her clothes and take a shower.

When she was done, Liane made her way to the second-floor classroom for Charms, and was surprised to see Mietta Scalieri standing by the open door.

"Oh, hello," Liane said when she saw her.

"Hi there; you'd be Liane Langford, right?" Mietta asked, smiling.

"Yeah; you taking our class today?" Liane asked.

"Sort of; I'm running the accelerated tutoring for some of the students in this class while Flitwick goes through the standard curriculum with the rest. I'm taking you, Magi Scofield, Mister Malfoy, Miss Delacroix, Miss Weasley and Mister Lysander," she explained, and Liane's eyes widened.

"Really? Why us? I mean; why run these classes at all?" Liane asked.

"Honestly? I think this is Flitwick's way of privileging his best students in each year to get through the qualifiers for the Olympiad. Hogwarts is expected to do well when both students in the last Triwizard-even if only Diggory was _meant_ to be there-won the final challenge. So he asked me to run one of these every so often in the lead up to the qualifiers," Mietta explained.

Liane nodded. "Makes sense. I have a question, actually; how does someone become an STA?" she asked.

"We have to have completed the N.E.W.T for the class in sixth year, firstly. Then we sit an entrance examination, marking us to the standard of first year teacher training, and then, if there is still more than one applicant, we're interviewed by the head of the unit," Mietta explained.

Liane whistled. "Sounds tough," she said. Mietta smiled.

"It is, but it's worth it. You learn a lot, and even if you don't go into teaching your resume looks fantastic. Plus, unfettered access to the restricted section! Anyway, grab your seat, we'll get to the good stuff in a bit," she replied, and Liane nodded and ran inside, taking her seat between Rose and Scorpius. When Flitwick came in a few minutes later, he took to his podium and cleared his throat.

"In order to best serve my classes, I have brought in Miss Scalieri to assist those students who have already achieved the spells on the syllabus. So, for today we will be focussing on the simple cleaning spell, useful for clearing away small spills and messes, and the following students will follow Miss Scalieri into the next room; Yvette Delacroix, Liane Langford, Peter Lysander, Scorpius Malfoy, Remy Scofield and Rose Weasley," he announced, and the students mentioned, Liane included, got up and made their way to the door, Mietta meeting them there and leading the six of them around to an empty, much smaller classroom further down the hall.

When they were all inside, Mietta sat on a table and gestured to the others to get comfortable.

"Alright; so, for those who I haven't met yet, hi, I'm Mietta. I figure, so we know where we are, everyone shows off the best spell they know. Okay? So who's first?" she asked, looking at the group. Yvette raised her hand and Mietta gestured for her to continue. Drawing her wand, Yvette pointed it at her own head.

" _Apperator Dormia_ ," she chanted, and a blast of dim silver wind ejected from the tip and wreathed her head. As the cloud rose over head head, an image appeared; a woman, in her early twenties, which it took Liane a moment to realise was Yvette. The older-Yvette in the cloud was beautiful, slim-waisted and curvy, her maroon hair tied back in a thick braid that fell over her shoulder, and she was dressed immaculately in robes of the finest lavender silk. As she waved her wand, more glamorous women appeared, the shooting lights from older-Yvette's wand wreathing them and changing their clothing to intricate, delicate couture gowns. After a moment the cloud dissipated.

"Dream Vision, very impressive. And gutsy; I'm not sure all of us would be happy with the rest of the class seeing their dreams. Who's next?" Mietta asked, turning to Liane, "what about you, Liane?"

Liane shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea; the most powerful spell I can cast is the Enchantment Dead Zone spell. If I don't have a specific target, I could break something important," she replied. Mietta's eyes widened.

"I'd still like to see it if that's true; we'll work something out. What about you?" she asked, turning to Rose. Rose grabbed a piece of parchment and scrunched it into a ball, before drawing her wand and pointed at it.

" _Dracoria Chromostatis_ ," she chanted, and there was a quick burst of orange sparks. The ball began to burn, letting off red and yellow sparks, before it was little more than a small, stationary firework. As Liane watched, the ball unfurled, and revealed a small dragon formed of burning sparks, which opened its wings and took to the air, flying around the room. Trailing behind the wings of the dragon as it looped over everyone's head were crackling embers of blue, green and purple. Once it had completed two circuits of the room, the dragon burst into a puff of yellow smoke. It wasn't until the spell had completely finished that Liane finally placed where she had seen it before.

"That was the spell that met the first years on the boats!" she blurted, and Rose nodded.

"It's one Flitwick invented a long time ago; my uncle...uncles...used it as the basis for one of their more popular fireworks when they were at Hogwarts," she explained.

"Very impressive; I'm certain Flitwick would be very flattered. Okay, so who else?"

As they went around the room, the others all showed off spells they had learned on their own; Remy made a table dance a complicated tap routine, Peter conjured a small hawk in the Ravenclaw colours that spoke in rhyme, and Scorpius disillusioned himself, becoming invisible, causing Liane to immediately vow to learn the spell herself as soon as possible. When the others were done, Mietta found a Quick-Quotes Quill in a storage cupboard for Liane to disenchant, and when she was satisfied that the spell had been cast correctly she whistled.

"Well, it's a pity STAs aren't qualified to give out house points like the Head Boy and Girl, but I am impressed with all of you, that is some very advanced Charms work. I think, in that case, that perhaps our first project should be something challenging. We're going to learn to cast the Patronus charm."


	10. Chapter 10: Duellers

Chapter 10: Duellers

Wednesday afternoon, following History of Magic, Liane made her way downstairs to the Entrance Hall. It had been raining all day, and Liane had only ever seen the Duellers congregate once before, and it had been out on the south lawn. When she arrived, she was surprised to find Booker and Wanda coming up from the dungeons in not simply exercise gear, but rainproof boots as well.

"Practice is still going on outside?" she asked.

"Absolutely; we held practice in the Great Hall once and McGonagall made us promise to never ask again," Booker replied with a smile, "come on, you don't want to be late for your first practice do you?" he asked.

Liane shook her head and raced down to the dorms to get changed. She didn't have anything waterproof, so she instead simply donned her sneakers and figured she would simply _scourgify_ them clean later.

When she got out to the practice area, she found she was only one of several first years trying out; Rose, Scorpius, Remy, Mitchell and Bertie were all there as well, waiting for her. Cassandra and Yvette were standing up by the castle, underneath a large white umbrella. Besides her friends, there were a few other faces among those trying out she recognised; Peter Lysander, Gabriella Lorde and the Pascall siblings Erica and Westley from Ravenclaw, Freddy Dodgson from Hufflepuff and Ben Evergreen from Slytherin, all of whom she recognised as strong students but nothing terribly threatening. It was worth betting that each of them had their names down to compete in the qualifiers too, so Liane promised herself that she would watch them all for clues as to their general ability. She was surprised to see so few Gryffindors in the mix; given the Gryffindor proclivity for bravado, and the high number of strong Gryffindor seventh-years in the group, it seemed odd that so few of them signed up.

As Donovan and Jeremy walked forward, seeming about to start, there was a noise of running and panting behind Liane. When she turned to look, she was surprised to see Albus had joined the lines of first years.

"I thought you weren't coming?" she asked quietly.

Albus shot a quick look towards Scorpius, who was looking steadfastly forward. "I wasn't," he said. Liane smiled and rolled her eyes, but said no more.

"Students of Hogwarts," Donovan called, his wand held to his mouth and amplifying his voice, "you who stand here today have taken the first step in claiming control over your own lives. But the road we travel, those of us willing to be the everyday warriors in defence of our sustained freedom, is a hard and painful one. You must show, every day, that you are something more than the average witch, wizard or magus. You must be the person who will stand against evil, not cower before it. Hogwarts will teach you how to live in the magical world; but it is us here who will teach you how to ensure it's a world worth living in.

"Before we begin, there are two most basic skills that all applicants _must_ know before moving on to general Dueller sessions, and certainly before you engage in any events; Disarming, and Shield-Breaking. So, our first session today, prior to choosing who will be accepted and who will need to reapply after furthering their studies, will be to teach and master these two simple spells. Those who need to learn the Disarming spell, follow Lion and Tania down to the lowest part of the south lawn, those who need to learn the Shield-Breaker follow Jeremy, Booker and Wanda over to the lake. I will remain here to test applicants when they believe they are ready, and mark off those who have successfully completed. Existing members, those who have already been selected as coaches go to your relevant group, otherwise move to the west lawn to practice with half-power combat spheres. Duellers, move out," he cried, and the existing members replied with a chorus, shouting;

"Sir, yes sir," before moving out.

Liane, having taught herself the disarming spell long ago, immediately moved towards the lake to learn the shield breaking hex, and Rose, Remy, Scorpius and Albus joined her. Most of the others moved down towards the Quidditch pitch, although Liane was mildly irritated to see Bertie and Mitchell were both moving straight towards Donovan.

"I get Bertie knowing those spells already, but how did Mitchell learn them?" she asked, turning to Albus.

"Didn't you know? Ever since you let slip about your extra training sessions those two have spent every waking moment together training to catch up. Didn't you think it was odd you hadn't seen either of them except in classes?" Albus asked. Liane blinked.

"It's been a weird couple of days, I kind of stopped paying attention," she admitted lamely.

"Well, they had their detention with Malfoy and me, and they wouldn't shut up about you. I can't quite tell if they're both keen on you or just embarrassed that you keep showing them up," he replied. Liane pulled a face.

"Ew, no, Mitchell is like my brother, he's not into me," she said.

Albus shrugged. "Sibling rivalry then. Either way they're going to push themselves into overtaking you, they're so determined," he said.

"Huh; you know Yvette was certain that sort of thing would happen with Scorpius and you," Liane answered. Albus flashed another glance at Scorpius, his face impassive.

"I don't think that's likely," he replied.

As the first and second-years lined up ready to receive instruction, the fifth-years gathered together facing them, a number of fourth-years standing behind them.

"As you have all no doubt learned by now in your Defence classes, the most basic tool in any combat is the ability to _avoid_ damage, whether by blocking, disarming or shielding. It therefore falls that should you wish to end a stalemate, you will need to know how to shatter an opponent's shield," Jeremy announced. He then turned to Wanda and nodded, and she took several steps away and drew her wand. Jeremy stepped away from the huddled group of fifth-years and drew his own wand.

" _Protego_ ," he chanted, and a bubble of blueish light surrounded him. Wanda raised her own wand and trailed the tip in a swirl, ending in a forward thrust.

" _Lagann_ ," she chanted, and a blast of red and purple light blasted from the tip of her wand. It crashed into Jeremy's shield and the barrier shattered into blue sparks. Once the sparks had winked themselves out, Wanda returned to the line.

"We will split you into groups, one instructor to…four students. Booker will run down the line and give you a number," Jeremy said, and with a wave Booker stepped forward and began counting off the students in the rows, giving them a number between one and seven. When that was done each of the fifth and fourth year instructors called out their number and the groups split off to separate practice areas. Liane was in the third group, and found herself with Peter Lysander and two second-years. To her pleasure, they were matched with Wanda to practice.

"As you saw in the demonstration, this simple form of the Breaking Drill hex is not complicated, but its power relies not only on the caster's ability but on the precision of their wand movements. First, raise your wands," Wanda ordered. Liane drew her wand and held it up in the same manner Wanda had held hers.

"Your first revolution," Wanda continued, "ought to be between two and three inches in diameter, and you should reach the centre of your spiral at the end of two complete revolutions. When you complete the spiral the forward thrust should be the length of your wand."

Liane looked at her monster of a wand, slightly longer than her forearm, and mentally swore, re-adjusting her stance to allow for the thrust.

"The incantation is _lagann_ , with a long 'ah' sound in the second syllable that should coincide with the thrust. Again, it should go like this," Wanda said, turning to face the lake. She spiralled her wand and thrust forward, shouting the incantation. The drill blast speared out over the lake, and Liane saw out of the corner of her eyes that the other instructors were doing the same.

"Now, we'll practise the wand work against a simple shield, to get you used to it," Wanda said, turning back to her group. She waved her wand.

" _Prismatis_ ," she chanted, and the crystal shield appeared around her. The four initiates lined up in front of her, their wands raised. The first to fire was one of the second-years, who fired off a spell that looked very similar to Wanda's spell, but splashed across her shield without seeming to damage it at all.

"Well done, Corben. Liane, you're next," Wanda said.

Liane nodded, and tried to replicate the wand movement.

" _Lagann_ ," she cried, thrusting forward. The heavy wand drooped as she pushed forward, and a weak glow shot forward and crashed into the lake, sending a cloud of steam into the air.

"Bad luck, Liane, you'll have to try again. Mister Lysander?"

Peter nodded, lifting his wand. Liane noticed with a touch of envy that it was only six-inches long, and had a curved handle like Remy's, perfect for this kind of fiddly movement. He rolled the wand around his wrist and fired off a near perfect replica of Wanda's spell, the drill shattering her prism shield on impact.

"Excellent, well done Peter. If you wish to go and present that to Donovan, go ahead," Wanda said. Peter shook his head.

"I'll practise a little longer if that's alright," he replied. Wanda recast her shield and moved to the other second-year.

Practice continued for another quarter of an hour; many from the other groups had already moved on to the disarming tutorial, presented to Donovan or flunked out completely. Liane, however, was still unable to keep her wand steady with such a large, dramatic movement.

Eventually, Wanda dropped her shield.

"Liane, are you certain you want to continue?" she asked. Liane glared.

"Absolutely; I refuse to give up, I can do this, I know I can," she replied.

Wanda nodded. "Okay, I have an idea. The standard pose is the way everyone else performs this spell, but truthfully it's not how I normally do it."

Liane looked confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, back home, I didn't just learn magic in defence classes; we combined martial art stances and techniques with our magic. Stand with your feet apart, your off-hand side in front, your wand arm back," Wanda explained. Liane followed her instructions, adjusting her stance as Wanda directed.

"Now, raise your wand so that it is in line with your eye level, your hand just behind your ear. Raise your other hand to balance. Lean on your front foot when you begin the spiral, then step forward with the thrust, using the balance of your body during the movement to keep your wand aligned. Keep your elbow bent and your wrist loose, using the shape of your hand to keep your wand level," Wanda showed Liane the move as she explained, moving her through the step. Liane tried a few practise swings, not really feeling any different.

"Are you sure?" she asked, nervously.

"No, but let's give it a try," Wanda said, moving back towards the lake bank, raising the shield once more. Liane looked at Wanda, dropping into the stance, and tried to focus on the same feeling of desperation she'd tapped into during transfiguration. After a moment's pause, she twirled her wand and stepped forward into the thrust.

" _Lagann_ ," she cried once more, and nearly stumbled when the drill spell launched from her wand, bearing down on Wanda and striking the centre of her shield, blowing away the crystalline energy like it was nothing and hitting Wanda in the chest, knocking her from her feet. Liane's eyes widened, and on instinct she swished her wand towards the falling prefect.

" _Wingardium Leviosa,_ " she called, realising after a moment that she'd heard three other voices say the same thing. Wanda hovered, in mid-air a half meter above the surface of the lake, a look of surprise on her face. Liane pulled her wand back, spotting Booker, Jeremy and one of the fourth years doing the same, and Wanda returned to the bank.

"Well done," Wanda said with a cough, her hand pressed to her chest, "that was...very good. I think we'll keep up with our private lessons, Liane, building up a core strength and a strict technique seems to be necessary for harnessing your talent, and the philosophical side will help you to take over the psychological aspect."

Liane grinned. "I'd love that, thank you," she replied.

Wanda coughed again, a little unsteady on her feet.

"Thank goodness you're the last one, Liane, I don't think I have another one of those in me. Tell Donovan when you go and present to him that I recommended he use the full shield spell, not the prism shield," Wanda said, and Liane nodded.

"I'll do that. Are you alright, do you need anything?" she asked.

"I'll be fine, I just need a moment to catch my breath. You go on ahead," Wanda replied, and Liane turned and jogged back across the lawn to where Alastor was waiting with his checklist. Liane arrived as one of the other students was presenting their attempts.

"Beckeridge, disarming: pass, shield-breaker: pass; congratulations, go and join the others up near the castle," Donovan said, and the third-year nodded and walked back up to the small crowd of accepted initiates, about a third of those who had come out to apply.

"Liane, good to see you. I've been quite impressed by your year level; we're seeing the highest percentage in successful applying students across those in first year than any others. You ready to show me what you've got?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Liane replied, and Donovan drew his wand.

"Where do you want to start?" he asked.

Liane shrugged. "It doesn't phase me really. Oh, one thing though; Wanda says that you should use the regular shield charm, not the prism shield," she said. Donovan raised an eyebrow.

"Really? That must have been some quick progression, given what I saw last time I looked over your group," he replied.

"Yeah; she and I worked out the kinks in my technique," Liane said.

"Well, I'll be interested in seeing that, let's start there," he said, raising his wand.

" _Protego_ ," he chanted, and the bubble shield sprang to life around him.

Liane dropped into the stance Wanda had shown her, bringing her wand up to her ear and raising her hand, palm towards Donovan. He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Hey, I know that-" he began, but Liane was already casting her spell.

" _Lagann_ ," she cried, and the massive drill blast launched at the blue sphere surrounding the seventh-year captain. Donovan twisted as the shield shattered, and caught the spell on his wand, flourishing it around his wrist and scattering the energy in a cloud of coloured smoke. Even as he blocked it, Donovan still had to step back as the force of the blast travelled up his arm.

"Wow, that's a definite pass; I'd hate to actually be hit by anything you cast, Liane," he said, transferring his wand to his other hand and shaking out his wrist.

"Here's hoping," Liane replied with a grin. Donovan placed his wand back in his hand and returned to his stance.

"Well, then, disarming next; this should be easy enough," Donovan said, and Liane nodded. Flicking her wand back across her body, Liane brought her arm around in a semicircular arc, pointing at Donovan.

" _Expelliarmus_ ," she cried, and Donovan's wand lept from his hand, rocketing across the lawn, and he flew backwards in the opposite direction, skidding across the grass. Liane nearly dropped her wand as she started running towards Donovan, rushing to his side.

"Captain!" she yelled, dropping to his side as he pushed himself upright.

"It's alright, Liane, I've suffered worse. You've passed, that's for sure; I'm looking forward to the second-half of the initiation trials."

"There's more?" Liane asked.

"Oh, absolutely; but I won't ruin the surprise. Go on; it looks like we're going to be wrapping up the first bit soon," Donovan said as he stood up.

"What about your wand?" Liane asked.

"Not a problem; there is some benefit to the amount of work I've put in to get where I am," he said with a smile, raising his hand, " _accio_ wand."

Liane turned to see Donovan's wand launching through the air back to his hand.

"You can do wandless magic?" she asked, surprised.

"Tania, Mietta and Lion can as well, and wordless magic. It's often a surprise in duels when someone disarms you and your wand can be called immediately back to your hand," he explained, wiping himself off.

"It does sound useful. Okay, if you're sure you're fine," Liane said, stepping aside.

"I'm sure, go and celebrate getting through the first half with your friends, Liane; you'll need to be ready to move out again soon," Donovan said. Liane nodded and walked back towards the castle. The first years standing in the pass group consisted almost entirely of the same people who Liane had been able to name, a fact that came to no shock when Liane realised most of them had stood out in her memory for their abilities in class. There were about twelve first years, Liane making thirteen, seven second years and five third years; anyone in the higher years who had wanted to join, it appeared, had done so already.

"Of course you would blow the captain across the lawn," Remy said, rolling their eyes as Liane walked up the slope to meet them.

"Shut up," Liane said grinning, stopping to brace herself as Cassandra ran down from the main steps to wrap Liane in a tight hug.

"Seriously, we're glad you made it; given the trouble you had with the shield breaker we were worried," Albus said, and Liane sighed.

"Oh, yeah, that was frustrating. Luckily Wanda was able to show me another way to do it, I'd have been gutted if I'd missed out on joining," Liane replied.

"So does anyone have any idea what the next phase is supposed to be?" Liane asked as Cassandra detached herself.

"Freddy thinks it's broomstick mounted combat," Bertie replied.

"For applicants who might not even get in? That's a little risky, isn't it?" Scorpius asked.

"You could cover the Quidditch field in a fall speed suppressor," Bertie said with a shrug. Remy coughed.

"You mean it isn't normally?" they asked.

"Of course not; low speed manoeuvring would be impossible," Albus responded.

"The key question, though," Rose said, "is how many of us are to be accepted. If they could as easily take all of us, it might just be some more simple spellcrafting. If they only want five, it might be a duelling competition, or worse."

"That's true," Liane replied with a shrug.

"Whatever it is, it better happen soon; the weather is getting worse," Remy replied. Liane looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the light haze of the ever-present drizzle. Sure enough, the clouds rolling in were of a darker and much more ominous nature, threatening an encroaching storm of far greater force than the damp mist they were all covered in at the moment.

As they spoke, the last few passing applicants, another two third years and three more second years, joined the group, and while the fourth year and sixth year instructors from the two groups moved off to join the existing exercise Donovan, Lion, Mietta, Tania, Jeremy, Wanda and Booker lined up in front of the waiting group.

"Well done, everyone; you've shown that you have at least the most basic skills necessary to be a dueller. But to be one of us you must also show you have the instincts, the attitude and the ability for teamwork that makes a true dueller. For the next test, you will be mixed into six groups of five, and each group will be accompanied by one of these six. The groups will each take a boat, and there will be three teams of two boats apiece for a game of capture the flag. I will set the flag myself, and assess the whole field, while each boat's occupants will be individually assessed."

As Donovan spoke, he gestured to the lake, where six boats slightly larger than those that had carried the first years across on the first night had appeared out of the water. Two of the boats were ringed in green around the gunwales, two ringed in red and two in blue.

"As with the preliminary tests, we will assign the your numbers to you at random. Boats are numbered one through six from the one closest to the castle through to the one nearest the forest. Once you have your number, go immediately to your boat and await your instructor. Okay; Tonkin, you're a one…" Donovan began, listing them off.

Liane was assigned to boat five, the first of the two blue boats, and was joined by Rose, two second-years, a third-year and finally, once they were all set, they were joined by Tania. Liane took the rear bench seat next to the seventh-year, the two second-years took the front, and Rose and the third-year took the oar seats. The other blue boat contained Remy, Bertie and Mitchell, two third years and Mietta.

"I take it you're not going to be helping us much, are you?" Liane asked with a smile. Tania grinned, a wide, mirthful smile showing off her brilliantly white teeth.

"I'm afraid not," she replied.

"I figured; it would be too much of an advantage having you two on one team otherwise," Liane said, turning back to the lake.

Donovan had stepped out onto the water, the surface bubbling around his feet as he sped out into the middle. Once he was nothing more than a speck of colour in the centre of the lake, he raised his wand and there was a bright flash of light. Liane covered her eyes, and when she looked back she saw that he was holding a four metre long pole, and strapped to it, fluttering in the wind, was a huge red flag with a pair of crossed wands emblazoned across the centre.

"Go, go now," Tania said.

The others turned to look at her in surprise, but Liane had already drawn her wand.

" _Ventus_ ," she chanted, and the boat launched forward, riding on the gust of wind. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw two other boats launching at the same time, both the green ones led by Lion and Booker.

The third years had both drawn in the oars, which were doing nothing more than providing drag. Once in, they both placed their wands in the water.

" _Velocitaqua,_ " they called, and the boat launched forward even faster, picking up speed and pulling ahead of the other boats.

"Rose!" Liane called out, and the other girl turned back.

"What?"

"When we get close enough, disarm Donovan; we can grab the flag from the water easier than we can pull it from his hands," Liane explained. Rose nodded, pulling out her wand and turning back to face the front. Liane turned back around and braced herself in the chair as her wind spell died down.

" _Diffindo,_ " she said quietly, twitching her wand towards the red boat a short distance behind them. There was a shuddering, cracking noise, and part of the prow shattered, the boat starting to take on water. None of the students noticed, but Liane saw Jeremy turn in her direction. Shrugging, Liane restarted her wind spell, pushing more power into this time.

Their lead started to close up as the other boats began to accelerate, and whether they'd worked out Liane was responsible for their damage or simply made the same decision, the red boats were already starting to fire on the other teams. Liane had to duck low as a bolt of turquoise light speared over her head, hitting one of the third-years and causing him to start convulsing with laughter. The boat began to turn as the laughing third-year dropped his wand into the lake, and as Tania summoned it to her hand Liane tapped on the shoulder of the other third year.

"Swap," she yelled, and with a nod the third year snaked backwards into the gap between the seats while Liane crawled forwards. With a blast from her wand out the side of the boat, Liane straightened up their heading as the third year caste the water jet spell out the back, and within moments their speed was back up, leaving them neck and neck with the green boat with Albus, Scorpius, three third-years and Lion. The three third years were all using the aqua jet spell, lying across the rear bench to get their wands in the water at the same time, and Albus and Scorpius were both in the prow. As the quicker boat overtook them, Liane looked ahead and saw that Donovan was not too far away now, and Rose was lining up to take the shot to disarm him. Before Liane could say anything, Rose had waved her wand and shouted,

" _Expelliarmus_!" As the spell hit, the flag lept from Donovan's hand, flying end over end towards the other boat. Liane grabbed the second-year beside Rose and pulled him back.

"Turn the boat towards them," she shouted, pointing to Lion's team.

"What?" he replied, looking lost.

"Just do it!" Liane yelled, and before he could respond, she stood up. Pointing towards the flag, she raised her wand.

" _Frigidiero Maxima_ ," she shouted, and a blast of frigid air erupted from her wand, leaving a trail of ice towards the flag. As the second-year fired a wind spell, turning the boat towards the red team, Liane lept off the side, hitting the ice with her shoulders and firing her own wind spell in the opposite direction. Just like when she'd created the inflatable raft, Liane's wind spell sent her rocketing down the ice, the near frictionless surface allowing her to shoot passed the other team and hit the icy water just beside the flag. Grabbing hold of the flagpole in her frostbitten fingers, Liane pointed her wand at it and hooked one leg over it at the same time.

" _Wingardium Leviosa,_ " she chanted, and the flagpole rose into the air, Liane still clinging to it, pulling her out of the water. From here she could see Albus and Scorpius looking up at her, their boat circling around her ice bridge, their wands drawn and indecision on their faces. The three third-years, however, were not so picky, and they all rolled over and levelled their wands at Liane.

" _Accio_ ," the three of them said in unison, and Liane felt the flagpole shift in the air, pulling towards their boat. Liane pointed her own wand at their boat.

"Guys, get down," she yelled, and Albus and Scorpius, both knowing Liane well enough, threw themselves into the water without a second thought. Lion smiled and shielded himself, the third-years looking on dumbfounded.

" _Bombarda_ ," Liane cast, and the boat exploded into splinters, sending its occupants into the water. As the six of them broke the surface, Liane's boat caught up, and she dropped with the flag down into her seat.

"Any chance of a lift back to shore, Princess?" Lion called from the water, and Tania smiled. With a wave of her wand, the remains of Lion's boat all transformed into inflatable life preservers with blinking red lights.

"You'll have to wait for your team," she said, and the boat turned around. Behind them, the other green boat was coming along, Booker already casting extension charms to allow them to pick up the rest of their team, while the other blue boat was engaged in a pitched naval battle with the two reds. Both red boats had hemmed the blue in, and were pelting it with spells, while Remy and a second year shielded and Bertie and Mitchell fired back.

"Rose, can we help them?" Liane asked.

"I've got an idea; Jeffries, Chalmers, aim us at the nearest red. Liane, give me ice," Rose said. Liane nodded and, gripping the flag in one hand, began to freeze the rainwater collecting in the bottom of the boat. With each chunk she passed over to Rose, Liane watched as the other girl converted them into small, minnow shaped fish with drill-shaped horns, releasing them back into the lake.

"Are those going to do what I think they're going to do?" Liane asked, and Rose smiled. Looking back at the battle, Liane saw a commotion erupt on the far red boat, people jumping up from their seats and yelling about something, before the boat began to sink. As they fired various charms at their own boat to keep from taking in more water, Bertie hit three of them with sleep charms, leading Wanda to step in and raise the whole boat out of the water, driving it back to the shore. The tables now turned, Bertie and the second-year joined Mitchell in firing on the other boat at the same time as Liane's boat, the other third-year now over the tickling charm, came up on its other side. In seconds, the red boat's shields were broken, and all five student members were bound in full-body-bind curses. With a nod, Jeremy turned the boat around and returned it to shore.

With only one enemy boat still in the water, and with their allies between that boat and theirs, Liane's boat carried the flag triumphantly back to shore, and they stepped out onto the muddy ground with a cheer. Donovan had already returned to shore, his waterwalking spell allowing him to zip passed while everyone else had been busy, and Tania was the first to rejoin him, carrying the flag, followed by Wanda, then Jeremy, Mietta and finally Lion and Booker, who came up together from the same boat. Liane felt as though she might collapse; it had been an exhilarating experience, and she was eager to apologise to Albus and Scorpius, whilst at the same time wanting to celebrate her win with the rest of the blue team. Rose was busy explaining to her fellow Ravenclaw first-years Gabby Lorde and the Pascall siblings what had happened to their boat, and Bertie and Mitchell were trading blow-by-blows of their waterlogged trench warfare struggle against an overwhelming force. Remy was standing shoulder to shoulder with Liane, their head on her shoulder.

"Well done back there; just so you know, though, if you kill yourself this year I'm not coming to the funeral," they said. Liane grunted an exhausted chuckle.

"You'll do the eulogy via skype then?" she asked.

"What the hell is skype?" Remy asked, and Liane let out an actual laugh. Before she could answer though, the instructors had come back and were standing in a line in front of the boats. The applicants lined up facing them, and when everyone was quiet, only the sounds of the rain around them, Donovan once more spoke into his wand.

"Well, everyone, congratulations on a fantastic test. We have a clear winner of the event, but before we get there, we have a few words to say and individual assessments to give.

"Firstly, most of you passed; we saw some amazing tactical thinking and teamwork today, as well as some impressive spellwork. Of those who made it in today, I think each instructor has said they would be happy to have you at their backs in a real situation, so well done. Official team roster will be announced on Thursday evening, by notice in the Entrance Hall, so check there tomorrow to find out whether you made it.

Secondly; step forward if I say your name: Gabriella Lorde, Erica Pascall, Frederick Dodgson, Remy Scofield, Bertie Macmillan, Mitchell Munroe, Rose Weasley, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Peter Lysander, Ingrid Franks, Rosco Peters, Westley Pascall, Oliver Gordon, Isaac Weiss, Lachlan Alexander," Donovan called, and those students stepped forward. Liane was pleased to see such a high number of first years being singled out, although given the company was a little surprised her own name wasn't called.

"You sixteen showed exemplary levels of quick-thinking, fortitude and resilience in the face of danger. You have all shown the true spirit of a Dueller, and we expect great things from you in the years to come," he said, and there was a round of applause for those standing in front. Liane clapped extra hard, cheering on her friends a tad more enthusiastically than necessary to cover up her disappointment in not standing among them.

"One last thing," Donovan said as the applause died down. "Each year we award the student with the highest marks the title of "Most Dangerous Witch, Wizard or Magi". For the first time _ever_ , this award is being given to a first year. Duellers, please put your hands together for the scariest Slytherin since the Bloody Baron; Liane Langford!"

Liane looked to Donovan in shock as applause exploded around her, and a number of hands appeared on her back to push her forward ahead of the crowd.

"For taking the lead, throwing yourself _literally_ headlong into danger and for actually raining explosive destruction down from the sky, the Duellers would like to recognise you Liane as the Most Dangerous Witch in Hogwarts," Tania said, and Liane bowed her head awkwardly to them.

"I'm just happy I got a chance to take part," she replied, and the applause lingered a moment longer.

"Okay, everyone, go and have a good hot shower, make sure you eat well at dinner, and we'll see those of you who made it on friday night," Donovan said, "Duellers; dismissed."

"Sir, yes sir," the crowd responded, before they fell out and began to make their way back up to the castle, the older students heading around the corner to join the training session still in progress.

"Did you really have to blow up our boat?" Scorpius asked, sidling up beside Liane.

"It was the only thing I could think of," Liane said defensively, "what should I have done, try to target all five of you with full body binds?"

"Hey, calm down, I was just teasing," Scorpius said hurriedly, "it was a great shot, and I probably would have done the same in your position. But that water was _freezing_."

"Speaking of freezing; you joining the UK luge team Liane?" Remy asked with a grin, and Liane bumped her hip into them as they walked.

"I got further than you, didn't I?" she replied as they reached the doors into the Entrance Hall. There was a crowd outside and Liane craned her head to see what was holding them up; Filch was standing by the doors, insisting that everyone who walked in clean the mud off their shoes before they did so. Liane pointed her wand at her feet and began to charm the mud off, Yvette and Cassandra joining them as they did so.

"You did well, I hear," Yvette said as Liane moved from cleaning the mud off herself to drying out her clothes.

"You didn't watch?" Liane asked.

"We tried to, but in the rain all we saw were vague shapes and flashes of light. We got a little worried when we heard what sounded like an explosion," Cassandra explained. Liane grinned weakly.

"Uh, yeah, that was me; I blew up Albus' and Scorpius' boat," she replied. Cassandra turned to the bedraggled pair.

"Oh, my; are you to alright?" she asked.

"A bit hypothermic, but alive," Albus replied with a smile.

"We'd best get inside, then," Yvette said, and they pushed past Filch, who glared at their spotless feet before letting them through, and moved over to the Great Hall.

Once inside, drying out under the roaring fires of the Great Hall and frequent _thermos_ spells, they told the others what had happened out on the lake. All across the hall there were similar crowds as the second and third-years told the stories in their own way; moreso than on any other day the house allocated tables appeared meaningless as all four house colours mixed together to listen to the first Duellers event of the year.

"I'm excited to get into it," Liane said after she had warmed herself up with a big bowl of butternut pumpkin soup, "hopefully the next event we'll be able to pick our own teams."

"Yeah, who would you pick to be on a squad with you?" Bertie asked.

"Duh, you lot," Liane replied, tossing a bread roll across the table at him.

"Okay, but what if it's like today; only five people per team. You can't choose all of us; who do you pick?" he asked. Liane frowned.

"Oh, well that's different. Huh, I guess it would depend on what we're doing; Rose is the best spellcaster besides myself, so I guess I'd grab her. Remy is far and away the best transfigurer, so I'd grab them. The last two spots… Well, Albus and Scorpius are way better fliers, so if we need air support they'd be ideal. You and Mitchell are better fighters, so if we need to engage an enemy one to one you'd be better. I don't know the others too well; Lorde, Dodgson, Lysander and the Pascalls have a good balance of flying, spellcasting and fighting, so they'd probably team up together anyway. And then there's Evergreen, I barely know what he can do at all. I dunno, I guess it all comes down to who I need to get what job done," Liane replied, ticking the first-years off on her fingers, "and that's just our year; there were some talented third year students in there as well."

"Fair enough. And you could always balance out the mix, take me and Potter or Mitchell and Malfoy," Bertie added.

"Yeah, although I feel like having only one person with decent flying skills on the team would be dangerous," Liane said. Bertie threw the roll back across at Liane.

"Hey, I can fly," he protested, and Liane shrugged.

"Yeah, but you're no Albus," she said with a laugh.

"What about the seventh-years, what do you think of them?" Albus asked.

"Whoever the fifth member of their team is, I think Donovan, Lion, Haywood and Scalieri are going to puree the competition at the Olympiad, no question," Remy answered, "although I don't think much of _three_ Gryffindors in the one team. Maybe if Tolley adds some Slytherin into the mix."

"What, no Hufflepuffs in the seventh-year team? You're dreaming," Bertie responded.

"If that fifth spot goes to a badger I'll eat my shoes," Remy snapped back.

"Not much luck, I'm afraid Remy; Tolley didn't enter. Either a non-STA like Lion enters or that fifth spot will go to Winslet or Jackson," Albus said.

"Would you like ketchup or mustard with those shoes?" Bertie asked with a grin.

"It doesn't matter if it goes to a Hufflepuff, a Slytherin or a house elf; so long as they can wallop the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang teams," Liane added, and the others nodded.

"What about fifth year?" Albus asked.

"What do you mean?" Liane asked as she turned to him.

"Well, there were no Gryffindors _or_ Ravenclaws among the fifth year instructors today; it was two Slytherins and a Hufflepuff. If we're assuming Duellers membership means a higher than average chance of entry, does that mean Booker, Wanda and Jeremy are the ones mostly likely to get on the fifth-year team?" he asked.

"It might; I don't really know," Liane said, "they're all prefects too; what are the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw prefects like?"

"Ravenclaw hasn't really got anyone I'd be willing to put too much money on, I don't think," Yvette replied.

"What about the Scamander twins?" Albus asked.

"Second-years; I was thinking just about the prefects," Yvette replied.

"Oh, fair enough. Gryffindor prefects have Harry Moore and Quinn Farmer, who are pretty good," Albus said. Liane didn't mention what was on her mind; that as far as she was concerned, all four Slytherin prefects were worthy of representing their year.

When dinner ended and Liane stood up to leave, her muscles all cried out in protest, and she realised just how tired she was. Saying goodnight, she headed back downstairs to the dungeons, returning to the first year dorm room to retrieve some clean, fresh clothes. After a long, hot shower to wear the kinks out of her neck, Liane returned to her bed, set an alarm on her watch, turned up the quietus charm slider on her bed frame and went straight to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11: Qualifiers Begin

Chapter 11: The Qualifiers Begin

The next fortnight passed by in a blur; between her morning runs with Booker and Jeremy, advanced Charms lessons with Mietta, Duellers every Wednesday and Friday and her tutoring with Wanda, learning the combination of spell work and martial arts she herself employed called Mahō no Geijutsu, Liane barely had time to do anything else aside from eat, sleep and attend classes. The first term, however, was drawing to a close, and the two weeks of mid-semester break were just on the horizon; and with them, the qualifiers for the Olympiad.

It was Sunday afternoon, her one day without any other commitments, and Liane was re-reading _Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five_ by the fountain in the Slytherin common room, trailing the fingers of her free hand in the water. Remy and Scorpius were playing a game of exploding snap in the seating area behind her, while Olivia and Hannah quizzed each other on potion names. It was a very quiet, very lazy day, and the common room was nearly empty, most of the other students having found their way out to all sorts of other adventures throughout the castle, a large number of third-to-seventh years having gone to Hogsmeade for the afternoon. Even Remy, often so brightly and vividly coloured in their hair and eyes, was dressed down, a simple mess of brown hair that only just touched their shoulders, with eyes to match.

Which is why it was such a surprise when Rudzani appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Langford, you busy?" he asked. Liane looked up at him and closed her book.

"No, not at the moment; what's up?" she asked.

"I need a hand with a project," he replied, and Liane nodded. Standing up she took her book over to the table and left it with the others, and then headed up to the entrance with Rudzani.

"So what is it we're actually doing?" Liane asked.

"Spellcrafting; we're supposed to be showing Professor Delacroix the principles behind development of new spells, and so I'm going to try and write a spell from scratch. I think I've got something, and I want to test it," he said, leading Liane up to the ground floor.

"You guys get to invent spells?" Liane asked, surprised.

"Yeah, not many people go quite that far. Lion is the best at it so I've heard; I've seen him summon his sound system with a single spell and he's known for his shield spell that acts like a second skin," Rudzani explained. Liane nodded.

"I've seen that; you're saying he made that up?"

Rudzani nodded.

"I'm hoping this one, with some crafting, will stand up against that one," he added. As they stepped outside, Liane stretched, blinking in the afternoon sun as Rudzani moved over onto the practice lawns.

"So what do you need me to do?" Liane asked, stepping down the stairs.

"I've designed a variation on the shield spell; I basically just need you to throw some spells against it to see if it works," he explained. Liane nodded.

"Sounds easy enough. Breakers?" she asked.

"Whatever you want," he said, "breakers, curses, whatever."

The two of them drew their wands and Liane squared off, her back to the lake as she faced Rudzani, his back to the greenhouses in the distance. As Rudzani raised his wand, he waved it side to side quickly.

" _Mirror Wall_ ," he cast, and a shimmering silvery barrier rose up in front of him, reaching out towards the sides and lifting about five feet into the air.

Liane looked at the shield and narrowed her eyes. It was clear enough what the intent behind the shield was, and if it worked, she wasn't sure she wanted to fire off anything explosive or flammable. Instead, Liane raised her wand and dropped into a mahō no geijustu stance.

" _Flipendo_ ," she cast, and the ripple of force launched across the lawn. When it hit the shield, the barrier went momentarily opaque, and Liane saw that it was not merely silver, but actually reflective, showing an image of her standing a short distance away at the same time it reflected the knockback jinx at her. Liane caught her own redirected jinx on her wand and slashed it to the side.

"It seems to work," she said, breaking her stance.

"Keep it up," Rudzani replied. Liane nodded and dropped back into her stance, the same one Wanda had taught her during Duellers initiation.

" _Lagann_ ," she yelled, and her drill launched at the shield. When it hit, there was a moment where the drill froze against the shield, the barrier turning reflective, the spell trailing all the way back to Liane's wand. Liane gritted her teeth, and she felt her wand humming and turning warm in her hand. With a loud crack, the drill blasted through the shield and struck Rudzani in the chest, sending him skidding backwards.

"Ow," he said, rubbing his chest.

"You alright?" Liane asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks, Liane; I guess it still needs work," he replied.

"It's a great spell; let me know if you figure it out. The size and effect looks like it's perfect for Duellers," Liane said, placing her wand back into her robes.

"That's sort of what I was aiming for; I wanted it to be done by this week," he said, walking back over to join Liane by the stairs.

"You put your name in to qualify then?" she asked.

"You bet I did. I'm not as quick with the wand work as Booker, Wanda or Molly, and while I'm the better flyer between us, on the ground I'm more a...close-range fighter. This spell ought to help shore up my long-range game," he explained. Liane nodded.

"Good plan. I suppose in that sense flight is my weakness; I'm not terrible, but there are way better flyers in our year," Liane replied.

"On those old school Comets, I wouldn't put much stock in being able to assess your ability. The Slytherin team are all on Nimbus 2001s, except for our seeker and myself; he's got a Firebolt V and I'm on a Nimbus Halo," he said as they walked back up the stairs into the Entrance Hall.

"Means nothing to me, I'm afraid; I'm not too up on the recent broomstick models. I know Scorpius and Albus have both said they have broomsticks at home, the fire-thing you just mentioned," Liane said with a shrug.

"Firebolt V; the fifth series in the Firebolt brand. They're technically not Quidditch brooms; they're racing brooms, designed for speed. It takes a very strong hand to manoeuvre one of those bad boys on a pitch," Rudzani said, "if the Potter boys have the chops to fly those in a game, I'm concerned for our first game against Gryffindor."

"Well if James is as good as Albus, there might be some competition there," Liane said.

As they chatted, Professor Longbottom came down the main stairs, a large scroll of parchment under his arm.

"Hello there, Miss Langford, Mister Mandini, how are you both?" he asked jovially.

"Good, professor; Liane was assisting me with a Charms assignment," Rudzani replied.

"Good to hear. Well, you'll be the first to see this; I've got the qualifier match-ups," he said, patting the parchment.

"Match-ups?" Liane asked, curious.

"You're going to be conducting the qualifiers in pairs; we've randomly assigned the first years into teams of two," Professor Longbottom explained.

"Just the first years, Professor?" Rudzani asked.

"Just so, Mister Mandini; we'll release the second-years match ups tomorrow after the event, and then the third years, and so on," he replied, before drawing his wand. With a wave, the parchment flew across to a bare patch of wall beside the doors to the Great Hall and adhered to the bricks. Once it was in place, Professor Longbottom returned his wand to his robes, smiled and moved through the doors into the Great Hall. Liane stepped forward and looked at the list.

"Let's see; Bertie and Gabriella, interesting. Remy and Mitchell, Albus and Scorpius, well that will be hilarious...where am...ah, there we are; oh," Liane said as she found her name, her eyes widening, "that's going to be fun."

"What, who are you paired with?" Rudzani asked. Liane turned to face him as she stepped away from the list.

"I'm with Yvette; she entered after all," Liane said with a wide grin.

"You seem very pleased; I know she's your friend, but she's not a Dueller or anything, so what's so exciting?" Rudzani asked.

"Because Yvette has skills I'm not sure even she fully understands, and I know what to do to bring the most out of them."

Liane headed downstairs back to the Common Room, a grin plastered on her face. Remy noticed as soon as she entered.

"What are you so excited about?" they asked, slyly, "nothing we should be reporting to Slughorn I hope."

"You," Liane said, pointing across the room, "are a dirty minded little rat. Anyway, the pairings for tomorrow's qualifiers are up in the Entrance Hall."

As soon as they heard, both Remy and Scorpius lept to their feet, racing for the door. Liane ducked aside, heading down the opposite steps as the two of them raced upwards.

"Look at those two; neither one even thought to ask me if I checked their assigned partners," Liane said, wandering across the Common Room.

"Did you?" Hannah asked, lowering the textbook she had open.

"Yeah; Remy's with Mitchell Munroe-" Liane began.

"Ooh, strong team," Olivia remarked.

"Indeed. And Scorpius is with Albus Potter," Liane said, her wolfish, mischievous grin leaping back to her face.

"Ha ha, excellent!" Hannah replied, laughing. Olivia bit her lip.

"Is that wise?" she asked.

"I think it's perfect," Liane said, sitting down with them, "those two are exactly like one another, and they're both so caught up in their history neither one sees it. I've seen them both in Duellers training, they'll be strong or weak depending on whether they can work together."

"If you say so," Olivia said quietly.

"You should come and watch, I'm willing to bet it's going to be more interesting even than the Duellers initiation," Liane said.

"I will; I reckon it's probable that the whole school will be out to see it," Olivia replied.

"That's true," Liane said with a shrug.

"So who did you get paired with?" Hannah asked.

"Yvette; I'm excited, I already have some ideas for how we can use her abilities. The real question now is; what are they going to make us do?" Liane asked.

"Steal an egg from a dragon?" Hannah said dryly.

"If it is I'm stealing Rudzani's broomstick," Liane replied, "he was just telling me how good it is."

By the time Scorpius and Remy returned, the three girls had started a game of exploding snap. Liane looked up to see Scorpius move straight to his room, and Remy walked over, a wry smile on their face.

"He's not happy," they said, sitting down beside Liane.

"He's going to need to get over it," Liane said, "otherwise he's going to crash and burn."

"I'm sure he'll be fine; they were able to work together in the Duellers initiation boat challenge after all," Remy replied.

"Well, if you mean simultaneously hurling yourself into the water as working together," Liane said with a grin.

"They also managed to organise the fastest boat," Remy said, shrugging.

"Well, I honestly do hope they get their act together; I'd love to see them actually get the most out of this event."

Hannah laid down a card from her hand and the entire pile erupted with a crack, sending cards flying across the table.

"So, you got Yvette, huh? The Most Dangerous Student in the School and Ravenclaw's resident fashion guru; should be fun," Remy said with a grin.

"You have no idea; trust me, it's going to be fun," Liane replied.

"Well, now I'm excited," Remy said, swiping across the table with their wand and the cards leapt back into a rough pile.

"You doubting me?" Liane asked.

"Don't get me wrong," Remy said, their hair shifting from brown to blonde, "I love the girl, I think she's incredible. She's clever and witty and beautiful. But she's not a fighter, or even much of a problem solver. She's an artist."

"That is entirely the point," Liane replied, "I've got all the skills I need to fight a monster or another player, or work out a riddle or environment puzzle. But I don't know much about art, and Yvette's marks in History and Muggle Studies, embarrassingly, are vastly higher than mine. Her skill set and mine intersect neatly, meeting in the middle with charms casting," Liane explained.

"Well, I hope for your sake your plan works out. Meanwhile, Mitchell and I will be raking it in," Remy replied.

"We'll see," Liane said, grabbing the deck of cards, "now, does anyone know how to shuffle these without blowing off my fingers?"

As the afternoon wore on and more students moved through the Entrance Hall, seeing the notice posted there, the commotion in the Common Room rose to a fever pitch. Rumours and hypotheticals about the layout of the tests clashed with assessments and wagers on the various teams. Eventually, in order to escape the noise and unwanted advice, Liane, Remy and Hannah moved up to the girls dorm, Olivia deciding to instead go and try and talk to Scorpius.

"I was so close to hexing that obnoxious third-year prat," Liane growled, draping herself across her bed, facing towards Hannah where she sat perched on the edge of her own.

"I would have held him down; how dare he talk about Yvette like that," Remy replied, sitting on Liane's bed, leaning against the headboard.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't; it wouldn't have been much fun tomorrow if the two of you got detention and had to miss it," Hannah replied, digging through her trunk to find a couple of boxes of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, tossing one to Remy.

"True. So, what will you be doing tomorrow?" Liane asked, "you coming to watch?"

"Of course; I figure Olivia and I will meet with Cassandra and we'll find somewhere to sit and watch you all compete," Hannah replied.

"On a different note; what were you and Rudzani doing earlier?" Remy asked, nudging Liane with their foot.

"Oh, he was testing a new shield spell, wanted me to try and break it," Liane replied, "I'm so jealous, the older students get to craft their own spells."

"Really? That sounds pretty hard," said Hannah.

"I have no doubt it is, but it also sounds like fun; imagine, blending together spells to create something no-one has ever seen before!" Remy exclaimed, "like; flight charms on a stunner to make it bend in the air, catching people off-guard."

"Ooh, or an enchantment that can make you a better singer _and_ a better dancer," Hannah added, picking up on Remy's excitement.

"Or a fiendfyre patronus," Liane added, and Remy kicked her in the shoulder.

"No! No burning down Hogwarts," Remy said sternly, and Liane laughed.

"I was kidding; could you imagine though? Forget Dementors, anything would be terrified of that," she replied.

"Liane, promise me that you will not learn that spell," Remy said in a low voice. Liane shook her head.

"I can't promise that; I aim to learn _every_ spell. But I will promise not to use it unless the only other choice is death," Liane said, hand over her heart.

"Personally, I think it ought to be an Unforgivable," Hannah said quietly, "there are places in the world that are still nothing more than blackened scars on the ground where that was cast."

"But, it's not _totally_ impossible to fix; the Room of Requirement is proof of that?" Liane said.

"Many people think the room is an enchantment specifically placed by Helga Hufflepuff, so I'm not surprised it was stronger than the fire. But there's not a lot out there to match the power of a founder, and even the room took nearly two decades to heal," Remy explained.

"Well, at least for the now, I can say honestly that there's no danger from me; it's still a ways beyond my skills. Even the Patronus is giving me trouble; I just can't seem to get more than a weak mist," Liane replied dourly.

"You're not doing any worse than the rest of us; Scorpius can't even manage that," Remy replied.

"Meanwhile, the rest of us are still struggling with producing different coloured sparks in emergencies," Hannah said with a slight pout, "so you really have nothing to complain about. You've finished one term of seven years worth of schooling, after all."

Liane grinned. "Ah, but if I want to pass my N.E. early enough to qualify as a Charms or Defence STA, it's never too early to start."

"Between Rose, Yvette and Bertie, you've got some competition there. I almost envy Wesley Pascall, no-one can touch his marks in Potions," Remy added.

"Or Ben Evergreen for Herbology, for that matter," Hannah said with a nod.

The three of them sat and chatted until dinner time, when they went upstairs to find that the decorations around the Great Hall had been changed to show huge banners of past Hogwarts Triwizard Tournament winners, including near the head table two banners showing Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory, the latter showing an _'In Memoriam_ ' heading across the bottom.

The house tables were also lavishly appointed in the house colours, and the prefects were out in force, directing students to sit with their houses for the dinner.

"Oh, pity; I was hoping to chat with Yvette," Liane said as they walked in, instead sitting between Remy and Scorpius at the Slytherin table.

"Hey," she said to Scorpius as she sat down.

"Hi, how are you?" he asked, looking flustered.

"Pretty good. The real question is how are _you_?" Liane asked with a smile. Scorpius sighed.

"Olivia told me you were happy about my allocation," Scorpius said.

"And you disagree?" she asked. Scorpius leaned back.

"Liane, you just don't understand; the Malfoys and the Potters, we're not just feuding, our fathers were the figureheads for different sides of the war. The war was as much about Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy as it was about Albus Dumbledore and the Dark Lord," he explained.

Liane rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Scorpius, answer me this honestly; if he had any different name-if he was the same person but was called, I don't know, Jacob Wright-would you like him? Would you two be friends?" she asked. Scorpius fell silent.

"I'll let you think on that; but I honestly believe that if you two accepted each other as people, not as products of your parents, you'll be a strong team," Liane said, and before any more could be said Professor McGonagall had stood up at her chair and looked ready to address the students.

"Congratulations, everyone, for getting through the first term. We could not be more impressed and proud of the culture of responsibility and excellence that we have seen since the first night.

"For tonight, we will be celebrating the beginning of our qualifiers for the Olympiad, and the brave first-year students who, having only just come to Hogwarts, will be putting themselves to the test. Those who succeed will go on to represent Hogwarts against the first-years from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Then, for the rest of this week, we will see the students from second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh year compete, and at the end of the week we will announced our teams. So celebrate, Hogwarts, and may the competitors rest soundly tonight; you will need your strength," the Headmistress said, and there was a ringing round of applause throughout the hall. As Professor McGonagall sat down, Professor Longbottom rose.

"Before we eat, a small matter of housekeeping for the morrow; competitors will be asked to assemble on the Quidditch pitch before eight am. You will locate your partner with the assistance of the referees, and the stands will be open to any spectators. Anyone not on the field before five to eight will be disqualified, and your disqualification will result in disqualification for your partner as well. The event will be explained in full, and at ten passed eight the event will begin, continuing through until six in the evening," Longbottom explained, before sitting down again. Liane's eyes widened as the food appeared in front of them.

"Ten hours to compete?" she muttered, "what on earth are we _doing_?"

"Maybe it's a transfiguration challenge; make something out of raw material," Remy guessed.

"Merlin, I hope not," Liane replied.

"Well, we'll see tomorrow; meanwhile," said Scorpius, brightening up, "pass the Yorkshire puddings."

The next day, after her run, Liane dressed comfortably in her spare tracksuit, her robes going over the top. To this she added a pair of woolen hand wraps that she had borrowed from Wanda, and tied her hair back and away from her face. Upstairs, Liane found the others all waiting for her in the Entrance Hall, the rest of the competitors similarly kitted out. Albus was wearing a Holyhead Harpies jersey, and to Liane's surprised pleasure Yvette seemed to have charmed together a thin yet strong looking black suede jumpsuit.

"We all ready?" she asked, and the others nodded. Hannah and Cassandra skipped over and wrapped Liane in a hug.

"We'll be watching the whole way," Cassandra said.

"Good luck," Hannah said, before turning back, "good luck everyone."

With that the two of them and Olivia headed off to join the crowds of spectators.

Liane looked back across her friends; Yvette, at her side. Remy and Mitchell, both looking like they were ready to go already. Bertie and Rose, their partners already walking to the pitch. And Albus and Scorpius; the two of them looked back at Liane, their expressions impassive.

"Alright then, I guess it's time," Liane said, and they started off out the doors, down across the lawns to the Quidditch pitch. Even from the castle, Liane could hear the roar of the crowd, the early morning light glittering across the tall stands. Professor Macmillan was standing at the entrance, and as the group approached he nodded hello.

"Competitors straight through to the field," he said, pointing behind him to where there was already a crowd of first-years on the green pitch, "but first, each of you need to grab one of these." As he said so, he drew a handful of wristbands from a pouch at his hip, handing them out to the competitors. Liane placed it on her wrist, seeing a small black zero marked on the white band. As they walked out, Liane heard a familiar voice booming through the air.

"And here we have the running favourites; we've seen amazing work from these first years, and we're expecting a lot. Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for Yvette Delacroix, Liane Langford, Bertie Macmillan, Scorpius Malfoy, Mitchell Munroe, Albus Potter, Remy Scofield and Rose Weasley!" Lion announced from the commentators box. Liane looked around, locating the box between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff spectator towers, and waved a lazy salute at the window, before she and Yvette walked out into the middle of the field.

Under the Slytherin seating, Liane noticed, an entrance had been widened into a massive archway, leading out to the forest on the other side, and around the field were various pieces of detritus, old wagons, boxes and other oddities. Most intriguingly, hanging about forty feet up from the centre of the field, was a shining globe, like a fairy light the size of a tennis ball.

As the sun rose higher in the east, the stands filled with students from all years, and large view screens were rising into the air over the spectators. At last, the doors around the field began to close, one by one, and the crowds went quiet as the time ran down.

It hit eight o'clock, and Liane looked up to the commentary box.

"Competitors," Lion called, "it is my pleasure to pass you over to Deputy Headmaster Longbottom."

"Thank you, Mister Lyman. Welcome, everyone, to the qualifier event for the first year squad in the first Tri-School Magical Olympiad. This week all the events will be run like the events in the competition; each year level will perform a variation on the same task, scaled in difficulty for the experience of the competitors.

"The event; in the air above you, you will see a star. There are hundreds of these stars, hidden throughout the forest beyond the arch. This one and those beyond are collectable, and each star confers a number of points to the team that collects them. At six o'clock, the teams who has returned to the field with both players will have their points collected.

"But, while the stars will provide points to the team, the players will each have the opportunity to score points alone. Completing challenges, incapacitating other players and performances of bravery or creative thinking will score you points, reckless endangerment of other players will lose you points. The deeper into the forest you go, the more dangerous and challenging the challenges, with the higher rewards.

"Now," Professor Longbottom said, "the competition will start at the sound of the siren. Good luck, competitors!"

Liane turned to Yvette as the crowd broke out into noise once more.

"You ready?" she asked. Yvette nodded.

"I'm not sure how much good I'm going to be for you, but I'm ready to put in the best that I have," she replied.

"Excellent; I'm thinking we should ignore the one here in the stadium, it's going to turn into a quagmire in seconds. We need to get into the forest as quickly as we can," Liane said.

The competitors all began to move around to their chosen starting positions, some clustering near the arch and others taking positions near the various items on the field that could offer cover. Liane and Yvette, along with Bertie and Gabriella, moved over to the side of the field, away from the scrum near both the arch and from the middle of the pitch.

"Okay, competitors, are you ready to go?" Lion's voice boomed out once more, and Liane drew her wand.

"Three."

Liane and Yvette both crouched low, ready to start running as soon as the siren sounded.

"Two."

Liane looked around and saw Bertie nearby. He turned to her and nodded, and she nodded in return.

"One."

Liane pushed up from her crouch, bursting into a run. Out of the corner of her eye she could see others starting to move as well. As Yvette lept up to catch up with Liane, the siren sounded, and the air around them filled with light.


	12. Chapter 12: Counting Stars

Chapter 12: Counting Stars

Liane dropped to the ground, rolling onto her back. Behind her, she could see Yvette lying on the ground, having been hit by a full-body bind. All around, Liane saw bodies drop and students stampeding for the cover. Raising her wand, Liane pointed back over her head.

" _Finite Incantatem_ ," she cast, and Yvette's arms and legs sprang apart. As she began to push herself up, Liane shouted.

"Yvette, stay down. _Flipendo_ ," she cast, and the shock wave rolled over Yvette's head to hit the student walking towards them, launching him away at high speed.

"Let's go," Liane shouted, and the two of them rushed to their feet. Liane made sure she was behind Yvette this time, and cast a prism shield around them both as they ran. The dark archway under the Slytherins still showed the silhouettes of several running students, which Liane ignored in favour of clearing the edge of the stadium and turning the corner to block the line of sight with those still left behind on the pitch. Her shield took a number of hits from other spells as they raced but none of the people firing at her seemed too concerned with trying to break through; it was more like they were blindly firing at anything moving, trying to drop anyone they could.

When the two girls made it into the forest, they ducked low into the bushes and paused to catch their breath.

"I think...I'm going...to have to...join you...when you run…" Yvette wheezed, bent over. Liane wiped the sleeve of her robes across her forehead.

"I reckon about a third of the teams were knocked out of the running in that opening volley," she murmured, "the ones left behind will spend all their time struggling over that one star."

Yvette looked up at Liane. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

Liane stood. "I think we'll do better going straight, pushing deep into the forest. The challenges deeper in are harder and will push away most other competitors, and the rewards are higher."

Yvette stood up as well, breathing in deep. "If you say so. We'd better move before we're seen," she replied. Liane held up a hand and raised her wand.

"Wait," she said, flicking her wand in a back and forth movement, " _serpensortia_."

A burst of black smoke erupted from the tip of Liane's wand, and from it dropped a black snake, three feet long and sinuous. Yvette stepped back as the snake raised its head and turned towards the two of them.

" _Go out ahead, speak out if you see someone else,_ " Liane commanded, and the snake nodded, before disappearing into the underbrush.

"What was that about?" Yvette asked, warily.

"A little forward warning, in case of anyone setting up an ambush up ahead," Liane explained. Yvette nodded, before reaching out and grabbing Liane's wrist.

"Hey, look at this," she said, pointing at Liane's wristband. Liane looked down and saw that the zero on her wristband had been changed to a small six.

"I've got some points already, it seems," Liane said with a tilt of her head.

Yvette looked at her own, and saw it was still marked with a zero.

"It must have been for saving me back there," she said. Liane nodded.

"Come on; the quicker we get into the challenges, the quicker we can catch you up," she said, before moving off after the snake, Yvette following along behind her.

A short way into the forest, Liane heard a warning hiss, and gesturing for Yvette to crouch down behind her Liane dropped low. In the silence of the forest, Liane strained to listen for any sign of anyone else nearby, and as she listened there was a soft thudding noise ahead and to the left. Crawling forward, the two girls approached a small clearing, a pair of students standing beyond, in front of a small podium topped with a glass case. Inside the glass container was a star, hanging in the air within.

"Do you know any spells for cutting?" one of the other players said to his partner.

"None, you?" she asked in response.

"No. We could find a large rock or something, levitate it over the case," the boy said.

"I don't see any rocks, we'd have to go looking for one…"

"We could break a heavy branch off a tree."

"How?"

"The muggle way; we climb up and break it."

As they argued, Liane turned to Yvette and whispered.

"You hit the girl, I take the guy?" she asked. Yvette nodded, drawing her wand.

"On three," she replied, and Liane lined up her own wand.

"Okay; one, two, three; _somnium_ ," Liane cast, at the same time Yvette cast one of her own. The two students flinched at the sound, their hands moving to their wands, but there was not enough time to react; both bodies hit the ground, gently snoring.

Breaking cover, Liane stepped out ahead of Yvette, her eyes on the treeline in case anyone else was waiting to do the same thing they had just done.

"You grab it, I'll cover you," Liane said, and Yvette nodded, raising her wand.

" _Reducto_ ," she cast, and the case around the star crumbled to ashes. When she reached out to touch the star, the light winked out, and there was a flash of light at the wrist of both girls. Liane looked down and saw her wristband read nineteen, and Yvette showed hers read thirteen.

"I see; it's ten points for a star, three points for taking out another player or something. I must have taken that guy out of the running when I hit him with the knockback spell earlier. So no matter what we can do, the best option is to go after stars," Liane said, looking at her wristband.

"Presumably the bonus points will add up with whatever it is we do to get the stars," Yvette said.

"True; it's not well known that I'm Parseltongue, so summoning the snake isn't seen as particularly tactical or anything, so that's why I got no points for that," Liane included, "come on, we better not linger."

Deeper in, the canopy thickened, darkening the forest floor. Liane and Yvette both lit up their wands with private lights, casting long, illusory shadows all around them. It was Yvette who noticed the stone pavings half-buried in the ground, covered by moss and dirt, and following the trail the two girls located the ruined remains of an old keep.

"Do you know what this is?" Liane asked as they stepped out of the trees, looking up at the crumbling ancient tower perched on the edge of the ruins.

"I do remember that before Hogwarts was turned into a school, there was a series of smaller forts in this area. The founders raised the castle over the largest one, and the forest swallowed the rest; they must have found them and turned them into the settings for the event," Yvette replied.

"Must have," Liane replied, "look, there's an old doorway; come on."

As they moved towards the door, Liane summoned a few more snakes, sending them on ahead as scouts. The door itself was barely hanging in the frame, and when Liane gave it a push it collapsed inwards, revealing a short flight of steps leading downwards. The room beyond was a quarter circle, following the curve of the tower outside but meeting in a wedge shape on the internal walls. Ivy and moss covered the walls to Liane's left as they entered, having come through a crack in the stones, and there was rotting wood all over the place.

"It certainly doesn't look like it's been here long," Liane began, but when she turned to Yvette, she was frowning.

"What's wrong?" Liane asked.

"All this wood, it shouldn't be here. These keeps were abandoned in the twelve hundreds, and there's so much moisture up here; it should have rotted down completely to pulp by now," Yvette explained. Liane frowned.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Are the only books you check out of the library spellbooks? It's in _Basic Herbology vol. 2_ , as many ingredients for potions only work when they've been cultivated post mortem," Yvette explained. Liane shrugged.

"Well, in that case; what does that all mean? Is there something living here? Was it simply set up for the competition?" she asked. Yvette shook her head.

"I don't know, I'm sorry. I just think we ought to be cautious," she replied.

"Well, I'm not going to disagree there. Come on," Liane said, stepping down off the last step. The three snakes had stopped in the middle of the room, looking back at Liane.

" _One go back to the outside; the others keep going further inside. Seek me out to warn us if others come, or if traps or stars found,_ " Liane ordered, and the three snakes split up, one heading back up the stairs to stand watch, the others moving through the doorways off to the left and right.

"Which way?" Liane asked. Yvette shrugged, then gestured to the door to their right, and so Liane raised her wand and stepped that way.

The next room was a long hallway, leading deeper into the keep. It had arrow slit windows near the ceiling, and what remained of old support frames leading up there. Down the other wall were shields and weapons on display, pitted and rusted and faded. At the far end, near another door, there was a pile of rags and discarded armour.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Liane asked, looking around the room.

"Traps?" Yvette asked. Liane held up her finger and thumb in classic "pistol-fingers" poses and made a soft banging sound with her mouth.

"What should we do?" Yvette asked.

"I'm not sure; do you know any animation spells?" Liane asked.

"A couple, why?"

"I'm thinking," Liane replied, "that we might be able to trick the trap to spring itself. We just need something like a rock to move down the hallway. I only know avifors, and that's not going to help if it's triggered by walking, and my snakes aren't particularly heavy."

"I think I have something; I've only cast it a couple of times though, so I'm not sure how well it works," Yvette said as she looked around to locate a broken chunk of masonry. Pointing her wand at the stone, she focussed her attention on a particularly tricky piece of wandwork.

" _Canis Silicanis_ ," she chanted, and there was, of all things, a sound somewhat like a dog barking, which caused Liane to jump slightly. The spell hit the stone and the whole piece glowed for a moment, before with a long, drawn-out rasping sound, the stone unfolded into a boxy, barely identifiable shape of a dog.

"It's supposed to make them into moving statues," Yvette said sullenly, "but I can't seem to get the look right."

"It's fine, Yvette; it's only going to be setting off traps anyway. Does it move?" Liane asked, then shrank back as the stone "head" turned to look at her, despite its lack of eyes.

"Uh," Yvette said, before she ducked back into the previous room to find a piece of wooden debris. Levitating it, she carried it over and held it over the stone dog, "fetch!" she cried, sending the piece of debris flying.

Watching the chunk of stone try to run was almost heartbreaking, as it threw itself into every tortured, agonisingly slow step. By the time it was almost halfway across, Liane was getting frustrated.

"You know, we could probably just reduce this place to ashes in the time it takes to test everything like this," she muttered.

Yvette looked shocked. "Liane! These are nine-hundred-year-old ruins, an important piece of history! We couldn't just destroy them," she proclaimed. Liane shrugged.

"Okay, but if we get ambushed, I'm not holding back for some old walls," she replied.

Yvette didn't have a chance to answer, however, as the stone dog had reached the halfway point. When it did, there was a sound of howling winds, and the decoration on the walls began to rattle. Liane and Yvette ducked under the doorframe, and watched as the pile of armour at the end of the room started to rise into the air, taking the shape of a knight in helm, boots and gauntlets, covered in a mantle of green and silver. On his back he carried a large two handed sword, and in his gauntlets he carried a longbow but no arrows.

"There's a word I'm looking for right now," Liane said with a nervous warble, but was cut off when Yvette exclaimed;

" _Merde_."

Liane, despite herself, grinned. "That will do," she said.

The ghost knight raised his bow, drawing back the string. Although he had no arrows, it was immediately apparent why he didn't carry them, as a spell bolt appeared between his fingers.

"Oh, _so_ not fair," Liane cried out, as the first bolt turned Yvette's stone dog to slag. Liane raised a prism shield just in time to block the second bolt which game a moment later.

" _This_ is first year challenges?" Yvette asked.

"I accept, it's a challenge. Maybe...Maybe it's like what Longbottom said; the challenges are the same, but scaled differently. Maybe the knight against the seventh-years is quick and deadly, but against us…" Liane trailed off as a third bolt hit her shield, and then she figured it out and her eyes went wide.

"Oh my god," she exclaimed.

"What?" Yvette asked.

"It's a computer game; the whole situation, even down to collecting stars and points, its a computer game! They're evening the imbalance between Muggle-borns and purebloods. Yvette, look for a weak point; it will be hard to get to, but obvious; it may even be glowing," Liane explained. Yvette looked at Liane like she was crazy.

"Why would there be-"

"Just, trust me alright," Liane reaffirmed. Yvette shook her head and peeked around the corner of the frame again.

"I don't see anything," she replied. Liane looked; sure enough, all she saw was a terrifying figure attempting to shoot her with magical arrows.

"It must be in his back," Liane said.

"And how are we supposed to hit that? Ask politely?" Yvette asked sarcastically. Liane pointed up at the ramparts.

"We pincer him; while I distract him, you climb up there and get around behind him," she explained.

"How are you going to distract him?" Yvette asked.

"Like any video game character; I'm going to meet him in combat," Liane replied. Before Yvette could say anything else, Liane cancelled her shield and ducked behind the door frame. Leaning out, she levitated a shield, a green field with a silver snake emblazoned across it, leading Liane to think it was at one point part of the House of Slytherin. Once that was in her hand, Liane strapped it to her arm and stepped out, holding the shield in front of her. She was glad in that moment for the training she was doing with Wanda, as the shield was bulky, if not overly heavy, and it was difficult to move. Still, Liane gripped her wand tight and looked over the top of the shield to the knight.

"Hey, dustbin breath," she yelled, immediately regretting the lame choice of words, "you want a piece of me?"

The knight raised his bow once more, but Liane was ready; flicking the shield backwards, she slashed across with her wand.

" _Diffindo_ ," she shouted, and the bow snapped in half, severed by Liane's charm. As the knight threw the pieces away, reaching up to draw his sword, Liane charged, Yvette running for the ladder up to the ramparts at the same time. As Liane closed the distance, the knight grabbed his sword and brought it down in a wide arc, but Liane dropped low, raising the shield to meet the sword halfway. She felt a vicious, jarring shudder run up her arm as she absorbed the blow, feeling like she might be crushed, but as she cried out in pain she also pointed her wand under the shield at the knight's floating boots.

" _Incendio_ ," she screamed, and the fireball splashed across the metal boot. The sword slid to the side and Liane pushed herself up and back, keeping the shield up despite the pain in her arm. The knight was stumbling forward, some of the flames having caught alight on his mantle, and he was patting them out with one hand whilst shifting the sword around with the other. Liane fired two more fireballs, hitting the knight in his shoulders, before the mantle completely burned away, leaving only a hauberk of ringmail underneath.

The knight, now bereft of his colours, seemed to turn his attention back to Liane and she could almost feel his anger.

"Come on," she roared as it hefted the sword upright again, taking a step towards her. Liane could see, although she didn't dare look directly, Yvette reaching the far end of the ramparts, but the knight was still on the wrong side of the ladder down.

Liane feinted forward, daring the knight to swing, but it held its pose.

"Is that the best you've got," she yelled, moving the shield aside to bring her wand up again, and that was when it sprang, moving forward quicker than Liane realised it could. As it brought its sword down, Liane realised she couldn't get her shield up in time, and so did the only thing she could think of.

" _Expelliarmus_ ," she cast, and the sword leapt from the knight's hands, spearing up in to the air and burying in the ceiling, just near Yvette. Both Liane and the knight had turned to look at the sword, and the knight finally noticed Yvette up on the ramparts. Turning back to Liane, it raised one gauntleted fist and brought it crashing down on Liane's shield, before stepping back, bringing both fists around in a heavy hammer swing at the supports for the ramparts, which splintered under the pressure. As Liane struggled backwards and to her feet, the knight stepped over the wall, grabbing a heavy spiked flail from a hook there and began swinging it, building up speed while Yvette shrank back against the wall.

Liane could see everything; she could see the knight swing the flail at the ramparts, could see the wooden frame collapsing, could see the flail crushing Yvette's skull. She felt her wand go warm in her hand, felt the familiar humming as her heartrate increased, and threw herself forward, crashing shield first into the knight. Although he stumbled back, the knight was still bigger and heavier, from the armour alone, and was little more than distracted by someone of Liane's bulk crashing into them, although he did lose some momentum on his swing. Liane, meanwhile, had swung her wand around in an uppercut, and had her arm buried in up the inside of the floating ringmail hauberk.

" _Bombarda_ ," she grunted, and the ensuing explosion threw Liane onto her backside as the knight blew apart, armour pieces going flying as the ringmail disintegrated. Floating within the armour, where the chest had been, was a star. Liane pushed herself to her feet, and waved her hand through the star, before looking up at Yvette.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm not sure; I'll tell you when I get down," Yvette replied.

Assisted by Liane's levitation to make the drop slower and smoother, Yvette dropped to the ground.

"That was incredible," she said. Liane shrugged.

"It was exhausting; I sure hope there's not too many more of those about," she replied, "although I think I'll keep the shield, it was pretty handy."

"Why not a sword as well," Yvette said, rolling her eyes, "there's a few in your size. I could even make you a harness to carry them both."

Liane looked at the shield for a moment, then around at the debris. When she looked at Yvette, she didn't even need to say anything, Yvette merely sighed and drew her wand.

When they were done, Liane's shield and a short sword strapped to her back, they moved on into the next room. What they found was a large open area, the roof only extending a short way; under the open sky the ground dropped away, creating a deep pit. In the middle of the pit there was a tower of stones, at the top of which was another star.

"What do you think; standard physical challenge?" Liane asked.

"Unlikely," Yvette replied, pointing at the ledges edging the depression. Liane's eyes followed the direction of Yvette's finger. Ringing the underside of the ledge were a series of small, hemispherical domes, glimmering a pale blue. Liane rested her weight over one foot and cocked her head to the side.

"Is it just me, or do those look like training spheres?" she asked.

Yvette picked up a rock and threw it out over the ledge. As it arced through the air, the blue hemispheres around the edge lit up and beams of purple and blue light speared outwards, striking the rock. As it tumbled from the air, sparks of electricity flickered off the stone, leaving a blue light trail all the way to the ground.

"Well, that looks like fun. What now?" Liane asked, "if we try jumping down there and climbing we'll get hit, if we try levitating we'll get hit. The lip means that it's hard to hit the ones near us and the distance to the ones we can see is too far to try and knock them out."

"What if we filled the pit with water, and then froze it over; we could just walk across?" Yvette asked.

Liane shook her head. "First of all, even if I _could_ replicate that high speed water spell the third-years were using, it would take hours to fill that pit with water. Secondly, water and electricity are not a good mix," she explained.

"So, what does electricity not affect?" Yvette asked.

Liane looked around, thinking hard.

"Ordinarily I would say something non-conductive, like stone, but those beams seem to have some kind of extra magical kick; probably to punch through shield spells, knowing my luck. That said, we could always test it with another stone dog," she said, more-or-less to herself.

Yvette shook her head. "Stone dog is no good; we still need to get up there. What about a ramp?" she asked. Liane's face lit up.

"Yeah; we could tear apart the ramparts back in the hallway and try and build a ramp straight up to the top," she said excitedly, "come on, the quicker we get this built, the quicker we can move on."

The two of them doubled back, heading into the hallway they had just recently come from. Liane set about using severing charms to break up the wood into manageable planks, then Yvette levitated them out into the courtyard. Eventually, they had the entire platform laid out upside down on the ground, and the support struts were laid out on top of them in a reinforcing zig-zag pattern.

" _Epoximise_ ," Liane cast, and the struts magically affixed to the platform, creating a single, cohesive structure. Looking over at Yvette, Liane nodded her head, and the both of them raised their wands once more.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," they cast together, and slowly, the structure lifted into the air. Careful not to move it too quickly and lose the tenuous grip they had on the spell, the two girls began to move the ramp out over the edge of the hole.

There was a wrenching thud as the platform flipped up, the back end smacking into the ground, and the sparks of electricity coiled over the top of the platform, arcing around towards the two girls. Liane tugged her wand back and dove to the ground, the platform skidding a short way towards her and retreating from the edge of the hole, the sparks earthing themselves harmlessly in the floor.

Liane swore loudly, momentarily forgetting that there was likely someone watching in case they got hurt.

"What do we do now?" Yvette asked, dropping to the floor.

"I don't know," Liane said bitterly, "it's like, no matter what we do, the defences can see anything coming over the edge."

Yvette's head snapped up, and she looked at the hole with narrowed eyes.

"What?" Liane asked.

"What if that's actually what's happening?" Yvette asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what if the defences target by sight? If they couldn't see, maybe they couldn't fire."

Liane sat up straighter.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked.

"Well, we learned about the Smokescreen spell in charms in week two, it was in one of the exercises. If we filled the area with _smoke_ it wouldn't take too long, and we could climb up the ramp to the star," Yvette explained. Liane frowned.

"But, if the area is full of smoke, how will we know where to move the platform to? We'd need the platform in place before the smoke," she asked. Yvette slumped back down.

"I thought that would work," she mumbled.

Liane rubbed her face with her hands, looking thoughtful.

"What is it?" Yvette asked.

"I just had a really bad idea," Liane replied.

"What?"

Liane stood up, pointing her wand at the platform.

" _Evanesco_ ," she cast, and with a shimmer, the platform all but vanished, only just visible by the odd way light shifted through it. Yvette's eyes widened.

"No, no way," she said.

"It's the only way; we need to put the platform in place before we smokescreen the area, and this is the only way to do it," Liane said, gesturing with her wand, "now, are you going to help me or not?"

Yvette stood up.

"Liane, I-"

"Look, if anything happens, this isn't on you, okay? I would have done this on my own, and I would have probably failed; if I fail here, it's no different. But if I succeed, it's with your help," Liane explained. Yvette bit her lip.

"I'm still not sure," she said quietly. Liane walked over to the other girl and gave her a hug.

"I am. Okay?" Liane replied. Yvette hesitated for a moment, before nodding.

The two of them took their positions once more around the disillusioned ramp and raised their wands, levitating it once more into the air. As they edged it out over the hole, both held their breath, waiting for the shots, but they never came. Instead, the ramp moved almost all the way to the tower of stones on the middle.

"Okay, now up," Liane called out, and the two of them began to raise their wands so that the platform rose with it, careful to keep the whole thing level. When it reached the top they pushed it forward, before carefully lowering the back end back down to the edge. When they broke the charm, the mostly invisible ramp was connecting the edge of the hole to the top of the platform.

"Okay, Yvette, your turn," Liane said, and Yvette nodded. Raising her wand, she waved it in a wide circle.

" _Fumos_ ," she cast, and from the top of her wand a huge cloud of thick black smoke ejected, spraying out like a cloud of steam from a kettle. As she waved her wand back and forth, the smoke billowed into the hole, rushing forward to fill it up like water, before bursting upwards to obscure the pillar, the platform, and everything under the open roof. When she stopped, all Liane could see was thick black smoke and the now almost entirely imperceptible lip of their ramp.

"Okay, me next-" Liane said moving forward, but Yvette raised her hand.

"Wait," she said, before pulling a ball of yarn from her pocket, "you might need this. _e'coutoriae_ ," she cast, and the ball of yarn wove itself into a silk neckscarf, wide and long. When she passed it over to Liane, she jerked her head towards the smoke, "to cover your mouth."

Liane smiled, and wrapped the scarf around her neck. "I knew it was a good thing we were paired up together," she said, before pulling up the scarf and tightening it across her nose and mouth. Before she moved on, Liane tugged off the harness holding her sword and shield to her back, handing it over to Yvette. Pulling up the hood of her robes, Liane returned her wand to its pocket within her robes and moved over to the edge of the ramp. Taking in a deep breath of clean air while she could, Liane stepped forward onto the ramp.

Almost immediately, Liane was surrounded by darkness, the smoke so thick as to turn the sun overhead into a pale grey disc far above her. She could feel the ramp under her feet, but aside from her own body Liane could see nothing in any direction except smoke. Relying on feel more than any sense of where she was going, Liane dragged one foot forward, up the ramp, and slowly began to ascend.

Onward and upward, each step an agonisingly slow dragging of her feet to ensure that when she moved her weight forward there would be more platform there to hold her, all the while aware that her sticking charm, or Yvette's smokescreen were only temporary. Her eyes were streaming, stung by the smoke, and she had to resist the urge to cough as she slowly released her deep breath, trying to slow her breathing enough to stave off the inhale as much as she could. And to top it off, at any moment she expected her body to seize up as it was struck by an electrifying beam of magic.

Slowly through the air she rose, before at last, she crested the top of the smoke screen, the star hovering above it like the sun over clouds when viewed from an aeroplane. Triumphantly, Liane reached out to grab the star, stepping forward onto the platform. As she touched the star, it disappearing and transferring its points to her wristband (as Liane looked, the band now showed she had seventy points; the challenges this deep in the forest were worth twice as much, it seemed, plus extra points for fighting the knight and creating the ramp), the sticking charm gave way beneath the ramp and the pieces came apart. Liane had to throw herself forward, hugging the platform with her stomach as the ramp collapsed beneath her foot, crashing to the ground below.

"Liane?" Yvette's voice cried out from the other side of the smokescreen, "Liane what happened, I heard a crash?"

"The ramp collapsed; I'm fine, I got to the platform, but I have no way down," Liane replied.

There was a moment of silence, before Yvette's voice came back.

"Should we send up sparks?" she asked.

"No! No, it's alright; I'll figure something out," Liane replied, before looking around. There was nothing nearby, the platform was bare, and all she could see was smoke, smoke and the edge of the open section of ceiling. As she looked, Liane's eyes fell upon something interesting; the ceiling edge, mostly solid stone, was supported on wooden beams.

"I have an idea," Liane called back, "hold off on sending up sparks; if you don't hear back in five minutes, send them up."

"Liane, what are you doing?" Yvette yelled, nervousness touching her voice.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Liane replied.

Liane swallowed hard, hoping she hadn't just lied to Yvette. Drawing her wand, Liane rested it on her free arm and carefully aimed it at a section of ceiling.

" _Reducto_ ," she cried, and the reddish bolt hit one stone ceiling slab, reducing it to ashes which rained down into the smoke. Carefully adjusting her aim, Liane repeated the manoeuvre on the slap on the other side of the support strut, leaving the beam hanging freely out into the air.

"Here's hoping this works," Liane said to herself, before raising her wand in the air.

" _Lassus Nectere Passus_ ," she cast, and from the tip of her wand shot a long, coiling length of golden cord, at the end of which was a rapidly growing circle. As the circle passed over the beam, Liane tugged her arm back, and the loop snapped shut around the beam, leaving a length between Liane's wand and the roof strut. Breathing a sigh of relief, Liane tested the secureness of the connection with a few tugs.

"Secure," she commanded, and a coil snapped back over her wrist, connecting her securely to the line.

"Retract," she said, and the line began to shrink back into her wand, pulling Liane off the edge of the platform. As she swung out, dropping back through the smoke at high speed, Liane felt a rush of exhilaration, relishing the breeze in her hair as her hood flew back. Breaking through the edge of the smoke cloud, Liane tugged the scarf from her mouth and shouted;

" _Finite_ ," to end the spell. The rope vanished, and Liane hit the ground and rolled, laughing at the now embarrassingly familiar pain in her shoulder. Yvette yelped with surprise before rushing over to Liane's side, helping her up.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Unleashed my inner Indiana Jones," Liane said, still giggling from the pain and the adrenaline rush, "ow. Next time I say I have an idea, stun me."

As Liane got up, Yvette handed her back her harness and Liane gratefully pulled it on.

"So, we're fifty-star points in, plus whatever else we've scored. Not bad for; what time is it?" Liane asked. Yvette shrugged, holding up her wand.

" _Chronometrica_ ," she cast, and the wand span in her fingers, creating a blurring disc, two stark lines taking up positions near the twelve o'clock position and the ten o'clock position.

"Ten," Yvette responded. Liane nodded, realising that she'd left her watch back in her dorm.

"So there's still a few more hours left. Let's check out the rest of this place before we move on; there's probably more of these deeper in as well," Liane said, and Yvette nodded.

The two of them made their way around the pit, finding another door on the other side. As Liane stepped through the doorway, she heard a hissing voice cry out.

" _Beware_ ," called the voice. Liane froze, looking around. Hanging from the rafters was one of Liane's black snakes.

" _What's going on?_ " she asked.

" _Students, fighting knight-ghost. Losing_ ," it explained. Liane nodded and turned to Yvette.

"Stay behind me, and be ready," she said, pulling out her wand and pulling the shield off her back. Creeping forward, Liane found the hallway opposite the one she and Yvette had come through to fight the knight, and sure enough there was another one, trading arrow shots with a pair of students at the opposite end. As she'd suspected the first time, the back of the knight's armour was open to the shoulders, revealing the star hovering in the middle. Liane poked her wand into the hole and, covering her face with her shield, fired off another explosion jinx, rending the armour to pieces, leaving the star floating in the air.

"Merlin, what was that?" Liane heard a familiar voice cry out, and through the smoke she saw the Pascall siblings stepping out from behind their cover.

"Is that...Merlin, it's Liane and Yvette," Wesley said as he joined his sister.

"How are you two faring?" Liane asked.

"We got here a short time ago, but Erica didn't want to go in the first door we came to so we circled around," Wesley explained.

"Why didn't you take the first door?" Yvette asked.

"There was this honking great snake in the way, that's why," Erica said with a shudder.

"So I guess you've stolen our point, then," Wesley said dejectedly. Liane looked at Yvette, the star hanging just within arms reach.

"Tell you what, we can duel for it," Liane replied, "one of you against one of me, winner takes on loser's partner, until we have at least one person from either team left to declare victory; that person can then revive their partner, take the star and move on before the mediwitches get here."

Erica nodded. "Seems fair."

As Liane stepped forward, Yvette grabbed her arm. "Liane, I'm not a Dueller; both of them are," she said nervously.

"You'll be fine; in the unlikely event that I can't take them both down, _you're_ in the AP Charms unit, _they_ aren't. I believe in you," Liane said, before placing her shield back in the harness on her back.

Erica and Liane stepped forward, Liane scooting around the star so that it wouldn't get in the way. Erica held her wand up to her face in the standard salute while Liane bowed, dropping into one of Wanda's stances. After a moment of pause, the two young witches staring at one another, Erica twirled her wand over her wrist.

" _Incendio_ ," she cast, and Liane blocked it easily. As she scooped her wand low mid-block, Liane stepped forward, flicking her wand up and down.

" _Petrificus Totalus_ ," Liane chanted, and a dart of silvery light raced at Erica, trailing streams of light behind it. Moving too quickly to block, Erica fell sideways, dodging the blast as she dropped to the ground. Liane wasted no time, turning her upturned wand into a downward slash.

" _Frigidiero Maxima_ ," she cast, and the massive cone of freezing wind blasted from her wand, covering the hallway in a thin layer of ice and, most importantly, trapping Erica's wand to the ground. Liane finished the young dueller off with an almost lazily cast sleep hex, before thawing the ice with a warming charm. Wesley looked at his sleeping sister with a frown.

"You're kind of a freak, you know that Langford," he said with a snarl.

"Come on, man, surely you can do better. Or is Erica the better fighter as well as the better flyer?" Liane asked, and he turned his scowl to her.

"Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about," he said, raising his wand, "I'll show you who the better fighter is. _Tarantallegra_ ," he cast, and Liane batted it out of the air with a flick of her wand.

" _Rictusempra. Flipendo. Incendio_ ," he cast in rapid succession, forcing Liane to step back as she struggled to block the rapid firing.

"Is that all you've got?" she asked, hoping to distract him.

" _Lepus Oppugno_ ," he cast. Liane paused when nothing came flying at her, curiosity mixing in with her frustration; she'd never heard of this spell before.

From the tip of Wesley's wand burst fat brown, grey and white blobs, which landed on a heap in the ground, fifteen or twenty of them in all. When they started moving, Liane's eyes widened as she realised what they were.

"Bunny rabbits? You're attacking with a swarm of bunny rabbits?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at the panting first-year dueller, "oh, Wes, that's really sad. _Expelliarmus, Somnium_ ," she cast, and Wesley's wand flew from his hand a moment before he dropped to the ground, still and asleep.

"Look at them, they're so adorable," Yvette said, cooing over the bunnies.

"Yeah, well they're still being driven to attack, so maybe don't put your fingers too close," Liane said, swiping her hand through the star.

"We should probably disenchant them," Yvette said sadly.

"They'll be fine, soon enough; that spell wears off pretty quickly. Leave them to the snakes," Liane said, and Yvette put her hand to her mouth.

"No!" she cried out.

"What? Snakes eat rabbits, it's a fact of life," Liane replied.

"But it's just so cruel! Humans rebel against the facts of life all the time," Yvette wailed, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes.

"Okay, fine; hold on," Liane relented, walking back around to where the black snake hung from the rafters.

" _Find the others; the one in here, the one outside, the one in the forest. Meet us once you are together; do not touch the sleeping children, nor the rabbits inside. Harm no humans outside unless I order it, feast as you will beyond these walls on whatever other prey you seek,"_ Liane ordered, and the snake nodded and coiled back around to retreat through the hole in the ceiling it had come through. Liane returned to Yvette.

"There, happy; the snakes are going to leave the rabbits alone," Liane said, grabbing her harness and slipping it back on.

"You were talking for a while, what else did you say?" Yvette asked.

"I was making sure it passed the message along to the others, and added that they should leave all humans alone. Not come on, we better get moving before the referees show up to carry Wednesday and Pugsley here back," Liane said.

"Who?" Yvette asked.

"Nevermind. Come on."

Outside once again, Liane looked around for a moment, trying to decide where to go. Leaving Yvette for a moment, she cast the lasso spell at the top of a nearby tree and used it to quickly climb to the top, where she looked around for signs of any other structures nearby. In the distance, near the furthest edge of the marked zone, she saw another tower, this time much bigger and less ruined, with large external platforms. There were a number of other clearings and valleys and overgrown sections that looked promising between where they were and the larger fortress, and Liane picked the nearest one and memorised the direction.

Rappelling back to the ground, she told Yvette what she'd seen, and they started back into the forest.

"So, where are we regarding points?" Liane asked. Yvette looked at her wrist.

"Seventy-nine," she replied, "you?"

"A hundred and ten," Liane said.

"I'm impressed; I can't help but think I'm weighing you down," Yvette said as they pushed through a pair of bushes.

"Nonsense," Liane replied, "without you I'd have never managed to get that star in the middle of the courtyard."

"I wouldn't have made it passed the knights though," Yvette replied.

"Listen, forget about it; I'm happy you're here, honestly," Liane said, smiling across at her.

Yvette smiled back, before her head snapped to the front and she visibly recoiled.

"Uh, Liane; your...friends are back," she said with a shudder. Liane moved forward, putting herself in front of Yvette and making eye contact with the four large black serpents who were rearing up in front of her.

" _Mistress_ ," one hissed at her. Liane flinched.

" _Preceed ahead, warn of oncoming danger,_ " Liane commanded, and the snakes nodded in unison before slithering away into the underbrush.

"I'm not sure I'm ever going to get the hang of that," Yvette said, coming around beside Liane.

"I'm not certain I'm too keen on it either, for that matter," Liane said sternly, "they called me 'mistress'. It's all a bit creepy."

Yvette looked sideways at Liane. "That _is_ a little Dark Witch," she said.

"Just, don't tell Cass, okay?" Liane asked.

Yvette nodded, but still looked concerned.

"So where are we heading next?" Yvette asked.

"There's a heavy tangle of thorns this way that look like a severing charm will make short work of; I'm hoping there's something there," Liane explained.

"I suppose there's no way to tell but to look," said Yvette, "what are you expecting?"

"No idea, that's half the fun. Ooo, maybe it's a sphynx!" Liane said excitedly, grabbing Yvette's arm.

"No, they wouldn't put something that dangerous in a first-years test, surely?" Yvette replied, laughing.

"Or maybe an acromantula," Liane said, wiggling her fingers in Yvette's face. The other girl took a swipe at her and Liane bounded forward, giggling.


	13. Chapter 13: Riddles, Rituals, Rewards

Chapter 13: Riddles, Rituals and Rewards

Liane and Yvette reached the tangled mess of thorn bushes as the sun was reaching its peak in the sky. What they found, however, were two other competitors trying to cut their way through. When one of the competitors yelled out in frustration and their hair turned bright red Liane realised who it was.

"It's Remy and Mitchell," Liane whispered back to Yvette, "they're trying to cut through the thorns."

Yvette crept forward, peering through the bushes.

"So it is. What do we do?" she asked.

Liane grinned. "Just follow my lead," she said, before breaking cover and creeping, wand drawn, as quietly as she could towards the two of them. When she was within twenty metres, Liane raised her wand, waiting for Yvette to take up position beside her.

"Hands up suckers," Liane yelled, and Remy and Mitchell half-turned, their wands only half-drawn. When they saw it was Liane and Yvette, they relaxed.

"Damn it, I guess that's the end of this," Mitchell spat, and Liane raised an eyebrow.

"Mister Munroe, I'm surprised at your language," she said tilting her head back, "come on, is that any way to talk in front of ladies?"

"Well, get it over with," Remy said, putting their wand away, "we weren't getting anywhere with this anyway."

Liane looked at the thorns, which for all the two had cast their spells looked as good as if they'd just grown.

"It's magically resistant?" Liane asked.

"Looks like," Remy replied. Liane lowered her wand, nodding to Yvette to do the same.

"Okay, I have a suggestion," Liane called out, "we call a truce. The four of us working together, we alternate star collection, and we've all got a better chance of making it through the big ruins at the end of the forest. I take it that _is_ where you two were heading, right?" Liane asked. Remy and Mitchell shared a brief glance, before they nodded together and Mitchell put his wand away. As Liane and Yvette moved over to join them, they put their own wands away as well, and the four of them looked up at the mass of thorns.

"So, you think it's damage resistant as well, or is it just magic it's protected against?" Liane asked.

Remy shrugged. "No idea; we've not got anything besides magic to try. We've tried _diffindo_ , _reducto_ , _incendio_ and _frigideiro_ , and nothing," they replied. Liane reached up over her shoulder and drew her sword.

"There's this," she said, hefting it. Mitchell frowned, looking from the sword in Liane's hand to the shield on her back.

"Where did you get all that?" he asked.

"There was a keep back that way," Yvette explained, "there were enchanted suits of armour and weapons on the walls, and a pit in a courtyard in the middle. We picked up three stars that way."

Remy looked at Mitchell, a smile appearing on their face.

"We found one of those too, there weren't any decorations on the walls in ours, though," they said.

"Really? How did you manage to take them down then?" Liane asked.

"We made them both chase me around and then Remy hit them with a knockback jinx and pushed them into the pit. The knights shot out the defence domes and then turned on each other, and then we dropped rocks on the survivor," Mitchell explained. Liane drooped as she realised the simplicity of their plan.

"Well it sounds easy when you say it like _that_ ," she muttered, stepping forward.

"I'm sure your way was better," Remy said, "after the second knight was crushed we shot out the only remaining defence globe and suddenly the floor of the pit rose up and turned into a stepped pyramid, meaning we could just climb straight up and grab the star at the top. Unfortunately, the stars from the knights didn't come with it, and there was no way of making the stairs retract again, so we only got the one star."

"We got a sweet load of bonus points, though," Mitchell added.

"Well, fair enough. Alright, let's see what we can do," Liane said, before swinging her sword around in a wide, heavy arc. When it cleaved half-way through a thick branch, the others gave a small cheer.

"Looks like this works; Remy, do you think you could transfigure a branch into another blade and make this go twice as fast?" Liane asked.

"I'll do what I can," Remy said with a nod, moving back to find a branch suitable enough to transfigure.

"What should we do?" Yvette asked.

"Keep watch; if you hear hissing, try and work out where it's coming from," Liane said, taking another swing. Mitchell drew his wand, turning to Yvette with a confused look.

"Hissing?" he asked. Yvette shook her head.

"You really don't want to know."

As Liane got into the swing of things, Remy came back with an axe with a broad blade. Raising it above their head, they swung down at the thorns, but as it hit the axe head turned back into wood.

"Damn," Remy swore, "it looks like the magic resistance is also defending against transfigurations as well. How would people have normally got through this?" they asked.

"Probably," Liane said, hefting the sword for another swing, "by making their own mundane chopping tools, using stones and wood as materials and wands for tools. It would take hours, so I'm hoping the rewards are good."

"So what now?" Remy asked.

Liane stopped, pulling off her shield and harness and her robes and jumper, leaving her in only her singlet and t-shirt. In the crisp mid-October air she felt goosebumps rising on her skin, but she ignored them and swung the sword two handed, carving away another chunk of thorn bushes.

"Well, it's up to you; you could go and find something to make yourself a stone axe with, or you can help Yvette and Mitchell keep watch," Liane puffed. Remy looked at Liane for a moment, before they stood up straight, pulling off their own robes and jumper. Liane turned to watch as Remy grew another few inches, muscle definition appearing on their arms and chest, their hair drawing in towards their head. In a moment, with the exception of the distinctive nose and chin that never really changed, it was as though Liane was looking at a different person, an older, stronger person.

"Or, we can take it in turns," Remy replied, and Liane took one final swing at the thorns before passing the sword across to Remy and stepping back, collapsing to the grass. As she leant back, propped up on her hands, Liane watched as Remy gave the sword a few test swings, and then moved forward to start hacking at the thorn bush.

"This is the most masculine I've ever seen you go," Liane said after a moment of watching Remy work.

"Yeah; I prefer staying a bit androgynous most of the time," Remy replied, "sometimes, like at the Room of Requirement party, I feel a little girlier, and I morph that way, and sometimes I feel a bit manlier and I morph that way."

"Does it ever get confusing?" Liane asked.

"Not really. I don't think of myself as _being_ one way or the other. It's all about letting what's going on inside out to the world; I consider myself lucky I was blessed with this ability, and I can let more of what's inside show than I could with makeup and clothes," Remy replied.

Liane paused for a moment, taking everything in. She'd met a genderfluid person only once before, briefly, it was nice to have someone she could ask questions of.

"And," she asked, feeling a blush start, "does _everything_ change?"

Remy looked at her and grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know?" they asked. Liane felt the blush overtake her face, even as flushed as she was from the work she'd just done, and she started to giggle.

Remy worked solidly for a while, but eventually Liane had to get back up and take over to finish the job. Eventually, there was a hole big enough to safely crawl through without running the risk of snagging on the thorns.

"Here's hoping it's worth it," Liane said, pulling on her jumper, not bothering to zip it up, her robes and her harness, sheathing the sword.

"Are you going to make it through with all that?" Mitchell asked. Liane nodded.

"I'll be fine; if I tuck my head forward the shield will actually make it slightly easier. I should go last though; anyone behind me will likely be snapped in the face by flicking branches," she said.

"It's okay, I'll go first," Yvette said, "I'm the smallest."

"Not really," Remy replied, "I can shrink down to a bit shorter than you."

"Well _someone_ go first," Liane said.

"Really, it's fine; I've done the least so far, I should go," Yvette said, and before anyone could argue she'd dropped down to her hands and knees and was crawling forward.

As she disappeared, Liane took in a deep breath.

"I think I'm a bad influence on her," she said. Remy clapped a hand to Liane's shoulder, shrinking back down to a bit shorter than their usual height and their hair going red again.

"You're probably right," they replied, before dropping down and following after Yvette. Liane turned to Mitchell, who hesitated.

"I'm glad we were able to work together," he said quietly. Liane stepped over and gave the boy a hug.

"How could I just shoot you two? It'd be like asking me to take out Albus, or Scorpius, or Bertie, or Hannah, Cass or Rose," she replied.

"You still might have to; remember the winners are only chosen amongst those who make it back," Mitchell replied.

"Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Meanwhile, get your butt through that hole I spent half an hour cutting," Liane said, letting go and giving Mitchell a playful punch on the shoulder. Mitchell laughed and dropped to his hands and knees, following after Remy.

Once Mitchell was away, Liane dropped down, crawling forward. The passage was narrow and low, but not very long; Liane had cleared away the last few feet with just the tip of the sword, but that was all that was needed. When she got through, Liane stood up and stepped forward, beside Mitchell. There, hidden in the tangle of thorns, was the opening to a cave.

"Oh, no, not again," Liane growled.

"Is this it? I was expecting some kind of reward for getting through those thorns; look, we didn't even get any bonus points for that," Remy said, waving their wrist.

"The points inside must be huge," Mitchell said, stepping forward.

"They better be," Liane said, following him into the cave, Yvette and Remy following her.

The four of them made their way down, the cave sloping down in a straight line. Although Liane, Yvette and Remy had their wands lit, Liane made Mitchell test the floor with every step to ensure its stability.

As the tunnel leveled out the walls started to move apart, opening up into a large empty cavern. The light from their wands barely cast enough light to emphasise the depth of the shadows around them, and Liane held up a hand to the others as she stopped, before grabbing Mitchell's shoulder and drawing him back.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Liane said, "I doubt we're alone in here."

"You think there's another fight down here, like with the knights?" Remy asked.

"I don't know; hold on, let's get a bit more light in here. You guys cover your eyes," Liane said, raising her wand high over her head, " _lumos solem_."

The end of Liane's wand blazed with light, flooding the cavern with brilliant sunlight. The cavern stretched out in all directions, nearly a hundred metres across. In the middle of the cavern floor was a large mass, the light reflecting off it in strange ways. When it reared up and turned, its large bat-like wings unfurled, and it's long, spike-tipped tail whipped around behind it. Liane's eyes widened as she realised what it was.

"Wyrmling!" she yelled, grabbing Mitchell and throwing him behind her as she dropped her wand, firing the beam of sunlight directly into the beast's eyes. The wyrmling roared, a loud, guttural sound that shook the cave. Liane reached up over her shoulder and tugged the shield off her back, hefting it in front of her as the wyrmling launched itself forward, carried further and faster with a beat of its wings. As it landed it skidded around on its rear paws and its tail shot forward, the spiked tip whipping towards Liane and burying in her shield. With a tug of its tail, the wyrmling lifted Liane off her feet and flung her across the cavern.

Mitchell slashed forward with his wand, plumes of blue flame billowing out to form a wall of fire between the three students and the wyrmling. The beast roared, before beating its wings, pushing itself away from the flames at the same time as feeding the fire, pushing back against Mitchell, Remy and Yvette. Liane pushed herself to her feet, once more hefting the shield in front of her, her wand pointing over the top. She felt the familiar humming and warmth flooding up her arm as she stared at the creature.

"Hey ugly," she yelled, " _bombarda_." The explosion rippled in the air beneath the wyrmling's beating wing, flipping it over onto its side and onto the ground. The monster roared again, scrambling to its feet and turning to face Liane once more.

"Does anyone know how to drop this thing?" Liane yelled, huddling behind her shield as the wyrmling advanced on her, its tail flicking through the flames.

"Magical beasts often have resilient hides," Yvette yelled, stepping backwards back up the path back out of the cave, to where the walls were closer together.

As the wyrmling raised its wings, ready to hurl itself at Liane once more, Remy and Mitchell both raised their wands.

" _Ventus_ ," the cast in unison, and the blast of wind picked up the flames and fuelled them into streaming columns of fire, hitting the creature across its flank. The wyrmling roared, its head darting back and forth as it tried to figure out which way to turn. Eventually it decided to focus on the flames and reared up once more, beating its wings to turn the wall of fire into a fiery tornado. With its head turned away, Liane darted forward, closing the distance between herself and the scorpion tail.

" _Lassus Nectere Passus_ ," she cried, launching another lasso spell at the tail, binding it in ropes.

"Secure," she commanded, a moment before the wyrmling pulled back with its tail and Liane was pulled into the air. The wyrmling turned, whipping its tail around to drag Liane towards its maw.

"Hit it, hit it!" Liane shouted, holding up the shield as she found her feet again, pulling back on her wand.

Mitchell swept his wand forward and launched another plume of flame, while Remy followed up with a blast of freezing charm. The wyrmling shook, shards of ice raining off its fur, and tugged again on its tail, although this time Liane was able to keep her footing.

"We're wearing it down," she yelled, and pulled back on the cord once more. As the wyrmling flicked its tail around back at Liane, it struck her shield, launching her back again. As she landed, Liane pulled her wand back.

"Retract," she commanded, and the rope pulled in. As it pulled taut once more, the wyrmling's back legs pulled out from under it and it sprawled on the ground.

"Liane, let go," Remy yelled, and Liane severed her cord, throwing herself back.

" _Flipendo_ ," Mitchell cast, striking the underside of the wyrmling's wing and knocking it onto its side. The wyrmling rolled over, leaping back to its feet and roaring.

"Liane! I don't think we're wearing it down, I think we're just ticking it off," Remy yelled, moving back up the tunnel towards Yvette.

"Well that's helpful!" Liane shouted, hefting her shield up in front of her.

"Try and get past it; I'll draw it's attention," Mitchell said, firing another explosion charm at the wyrmling, which took it on the shoulder with barely a flinch. The wyrmling took a menacing step forward, snapping its jaws towards Mitchell. Mitchell waved his wand again, launching spell after spell, but the wyrmling took each shot to the forehead without blinking, a low, guttural growl rumbling through the cave.

"No! No, I have an idea," Liane cried out, and Mitchell looked across at her with a frown.

"Go back, up with the others," she yelled.

"What about you?" Mitchell asked, jumping backwards as the wyrmling snapped at him once more.

"Nevermind about me; go!" she yelled. Mitchell staggered backwards, turned and ran. Before the wyrmling could move after him, Liane swept her wand forward, firing another lasso spell towards the beast, this time over its head. Pulling back, Liane caught the top of the wyrmling's jaw, dragging its head back around towards her. As Mitchell scrambled back up the tunnel, Liane severed her lasso and took a step back, meeting the eye of the beast and hefting her shield up to her shoulder. The wyrmling took a step back towards Liane, growling.

"Come at me," Liane muttered, and the wyrmling started her. The growl rose in volume as it bared its teeth, glaring at her.

"Is that the best you can do? Come on, roar!" Liane snarled. The wyrmling took another step forward, flicking its wings and crouching low on its front paws, its hackles raising.

" _Diffindo_ ," Liane yelled, slashing her wand across the wyrmling's face, "come on, you big ugly brute, ROAR!"

The wyrmling raised its wings and brought them down in a hard flap, launching itself across the cave at Liane, its maw rapidly expanding in Liane's vision as it roared. Without wasting a movement, Liane raised her wand, pointing straight down the wyrmling's throat.

" _Stupefy,_ " she yelled, feeling the strain on her magic as the red bolt disappeared into the gullet of the beast. The wyrmling's wings collapsed first, drooping a second before it crashed into the ground, skidding across the cave floor to knock Liane onto her back.

There was silence for a moment as Liane lay panting on the ground, the wyrmling snoring at her feet.

"Liane? Liane are you alright?" Yvette called out.

"Nooooo," Liane groaned, pushing herself up, "but I'm alive."

As the others rushed over, Liane clambered to her feet.

"What did you do?" Mitchell asked.

Liane looked up at Yvette and smiled. "You told me what I needed to do, I just didn't realise it in time. It's their _hide_ that resists magic, so I fired a stunner down its throat."

Mitchell turned to look at the sleeping creature.

"Nice work," he said, "I wouldn't have thought of that."

"Doesn't matter, man, I couldn't have done it without you. Without any of you," Liane said turning to Remy.

"I'm just glad you're alive," Remy said, wrapping their arms around Liane and hugging her tight.

"Oof, might not be for long if I can't breath," Liane grunted, but she nevertheless pulled Remy in tight anyway.

"Of course, now that we've established that you're alright," Mitchell said as Remy and Liane pulled apart, "where the hell are our points?"

Liane looked around, noticing that there was still no sign of any stars.

"Huh, that's weird," she said, looking at her wrist, "no bonus points for taking it down either."

"There must be something around," Yvette said, looking around, "there's no way this is it."

"Alright, let's move on; we've got to run into a star at some point," Liane said, standing upright. She paused for a moment, her head in the air, her back straight.

"Uh," she warbled, "can someone help me get my shield back on my back?"

When the four of them made it back out of the cave, empty handed and without any more points than they'd had going in, Liane was not happy.

"Well that was a complete waste of time," she growled.

"Come on, there's still about five hours of the competition left," Remy replied, "between the four of us, I'm certain we can clear our way through the big fort at the bottom of the field and rack up some decent numbers."

After crawling back through the thorn bush, the four of them worked their way around the outside of the tangle and reoriented themselves towards the keep. Liane tried to keep up, but she was so exhausted she slowly fell behind, watching as the others pushed deeper into the forest. As she trudged on, Liane heard a hissing, and as she looked around she eventually noticed all four of her snakes hanging from a nearby tree, their eyes on her.

" _Mistress,_ " one hissed at her. Liane stopped and stared at the serpents.

" _Stop calling me that,_ " she replied.

" _You brought us into being, you command us to do your bidding_ ," another replied.

" _You are our mistress,_ " said a third.

Liane turned to look after the others, her eyes narrowed.

" _Why are you here? Why aren't you searching for danger?_ " she asked.

" _We saw mistress defeat the drake-beast. We told of your greatness to the residents of the dark forest,_ " the fourth answered, and Liane became aware of movement all around her.

Coming from every tree, bush and patch of long grass came dozens of adders, asps, serpents and pythons, kraits and cobras. Soon she was surrounded by sinuous bodies ranging from the huge eighteen foot boa constrictor to the tiniest of tree-snakes.

" _Why are there so many_?" Liane asked in surprise.

" _The House Salazar brought many of our kind over the years. We grew in numbers and awaited a new Heir_ ," said a large krait that reminded Liane of Anguis and Zmeya.

" _We are your loyal subjects,_ " said a cobra that hung near Liane's ear.

As she looked around, Liane felt an alien sensation in her chest; a feeling of passivity, of comfort. It warred with her head, that was screaming at her to run, but instead she merely nodded.

" _I appreciate loyalty, but it is not my time, if ever. You are to return to the dark forest, live as you will; I will call upon you as I have need of you,_ " she said, and there was a chorus of hisses.

" _So be it, daughter of Salazar. It will be as you say_ ," replied the krait, and within moments the forest was once more clear, aside from the four conjured serpents that hung from the tree. Liane looked warily around, uncomfortably aware of the hundreds of eyes watching her from the long grass.

" _You four; seek the structure to the south. Find your way inside, but do not be seen. Await me there; I travel with the three who were with me in the cave, see to it that they are warned of dangers as well as I,_ " Liane commanded, and the serpents all disappeared back into the foliage.

Liane turned back to her path and took a step, feeling stronger already. She was not about to let a few bruises get between her and the top spot.

When Liane caught up with them it wasn't much further to the fort, which towered over them ominously.

"So, what do you think we have in store in there?" Remy asked.

"Knowing what we've seen so far," Liane said bitterly, "a Hungarian Horntail for which we'll get a drink of pumpkin juice and a pat on the back."

"Stop whining you baby," Remy said with a wolfish grin, "I'm sure that was a mistake. Come on; the quicker we get in here, the quicker we can make up for lost time."

As they walked towards the tall wooden doors, Yvette was the first to notice something odd.

"There's no handle," she said, breaking into a jog, "come and see this."

The others hurried to her side, and, sure enough, there was no discernable way of opening the doors.

"Maybe they push open," Mitchell said, putting his shoulder to the wood. When the door didn't budge Liane and Remy joined him, but there was no change.

"Oh, forget this," Liane said, drawing her wand, "guys, move back. _Incendio_ ," she cast, and Mitchell and Remy backed up quickly as the blast of fire flashed across the doors. There was an odd flicker of light for a second before the fireball winked out, and then there was no sign at all of any burning.

"What was that?" Remy asked.

"It looked like writing," Yvette replied, "but it was too quick to see."

"Hold on, let me try," Mitchell said, drawing his own wand. Liane stepped out of the way as he waved his wand in a sharp slashing movement. " _Inflammere_."

The same blue flames he had cast at the wyrmling leapt across the doorway, lighting up the threshold with a wall of fire. As they crackled against the wood, orange lettering appeared in the centre of the door.

"Does anyone recognise the language?" Liane asked.

"It's...french," Yvette replied, tilting her head.

Liane looked at the gibberish letters. "That is not French; I'm not fluent or anything, but I can recognise French when I see it," she said.

"Well, no, not at first; it's cyphered _into_ French. See, this letter here is capitalised, which means it should be at the start, so it's easy to see it should be _Bonjour_ , which means; hold on, let me work at this for a bit," Yvette said, drawing her wand. As she flicked her wand in the air, sparks trailed behind it to light up letters that she drew, and she muttered to herself all the way. After she completed several lines she stepped to the side and kept going, and Liane, Mitchell and Remy got out of her way and let her work.

"Do you guys have any idea what she's doing?" Remy asked, watching as Yvette waved her wand through one line of notes, some of the words vanishing and others moving in other directions.

"Generally speaking, sure, specifically, not a clue," Liane answered, her gaze transfixed.

"It's some kind of word jumble, I think," Mitchell said, scratching his head, "but even if it was in English I doubt I'd have the first idea of where to start."

Liane turned to Mitchell. "So, while she figures that out; where did you learn that blue flame spell?" she asked.

" _Winter Watchers: Charms for Northern Travellers_ ," Mitchell answered, "they're waterproof as well. It's really simple considering how useful it is. What about you; that lasso spell is pretty cool."

"Yeah, I got tired of how slow it was grabbing books from across the library and I can't cast _accio_ yet," Liane replied, "far more useful anyway, in my opinion, even if it is super tricky to aim properly. I could show it to you if you like?"

Remy sat down in the grass, watching with mild interest as Liane and Mitchell started to teach each other the spells they had learned, while Yvette kept working. The sun crept inexorably across the sky as they waited there, wondering how many teams were left and how many points were still available. Eventually, Liane and Mitchell got bored of practising and sat down as well, watching Yvette work.

"How long have we been here?" Liane asked. Remy checked the time using the same spell Yvette had used earlier.

"Three forty five," they replied.

"Man, we've been here for ages; it's going to take an hour to get back to the Quidditch pitch from here anyway," Mitchell said.

"I've just about got it," Yvette called back, and the three of them wearily got to their feet. Yvette finished her last note, stood back and waved her wand. The metres of notes blurred together and came to a stop, revealing eight lines. Yvette waved her wand again, and the lines translated into English.

"Welcome travellers, but take heed,

For what remains within

Is danger such as never you have seen

And rewards beyond wildest thought

Each challenge more difficult

And fraught with with chances of failure

But the greatest escape

Will be ultimate," Yvette read out.

Remy looked over Yvette's shoulder, an eyebrow raised. "That was pretty shoddy," they said, "are you sure that's what it said?"

Yvette shrugged. "It was more poetic in French," she replied, "I translated as best I could."

Liane ran her fingers through her hair. "That's great and all, but how does that help us get in?" she asked.

"Oh, that's simple; I worked that one out ages ago, it was a number puzzle using the French lettering. It's a password; we simply say; _traverser_ ," Yvette said, and the doors creaked open. Liane put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yvette, let me say, just for the record, how incredibly blessed I am to have you for a partner. That said, _what took you so long?_ " Liane snarled.

"Sorry; it was a puzzle. I hate leaving puzzles unsolved; and look, I got twenty bonus points for it," Yvette replied, gesturing with her wristband.

Liane sighed, smiling. "You know, I'm not sure whether I love you or want to throttle you. Come on, let's get moving," she said, and Mitchell dispelled his flames, allowing Liane to step through into the entrance hall of the keep, the others just behind.

The hall was long, run with moth eaten carpets, and features doors leading off to the sides on two levels, long staircases on either side leading to a balcony level. At the end of the ground floor was another set of large, ornate doors, and flanking those were a pair of large stone grotesques.

Liane eyed the statues with distrust. "Wands out," she said quietly, and the others obliged. Moving forward, Liane kept her wand forward and low as she approached the doors. As she got close, the two grotesques stood upright, their wings unfurling to obscure the door.

"Halt," one said in a voice like stone rasping across stone.

"You have entered the house of riddles," said the other.

"You must pass each challenge with your wits-"

"If you want to succeed."

Liane took in the two gargoyle-like creatures for a moment, before raising her wand.

" _Bombarda_ ," she cast, and the grotesque on the left exploded into rubble. Before the other one could react, Remy raised their wand.

" _Reducto_ ," they cast, and the remaining one turned to dust.

"Liane!" Yvette cried as Mitchell hid a snigger, "that's hardly sporting."

Liane stepped forward as the dust began to settle, revealing stars inside both statues, and waved her hand through one of them.

"Just trying to recover some lost ground," she replied, "I feel like I deserve it."

Remy claimed the other star, before placing one hand on the door onwards.

"I have to admit, the thought crossed my mind, probably at about the same second you started to fire. If they weren't prepared for that, it's their own fault; still, I doubt it's going to happen again," they said, pushing the door open. The four of them moved forward into a vast antechamber, with a high vaulted ceiling, balconies all around, and an altar in the centre. Atop the altar was a pedestal, and on the pedestal was a scroll.

"Something tells me this is not a riddle I can fix with an explosion," Liane said glumly.

"That's a _good_ thing," Yvette answered, "we'll do this one properly." With that, Yvette moved over towards the altar, Liane, Remy and Mitchell following behind.

As they approached, the scroll began to float into the air, unfurling. Once it was completely open, a voice began to echo around the room.

" _You who enters here, come to seek your earned reward_

 _Must firstly prove your mettle by the mind and by the sword._

 _Upon this altar, six tokens from the castle you must place_

 _Before the final challenge in the tower you will face._

 _The first, the core of life, forever stilled in time_

 _The second rears its head, its majesty sublime_

 _The third, its august stare belies its iron mask_

 _These three are westward gained, to complete your task._

 _And in the east the other half of what you need to find,_

 _The fourth in silken midnight will your arms be intertwined._

 _The fifth will bind your body, and the last upon your hand_

 _The final door will open as you give it your command._

 _Unite the six upon the altar and the words will be revealed,_

 _But fail and the doors will close, unbreakable the seal."_

Liane listened intently to the riddle, a bemused expression on her face.

"Who wrote these challenges, the Sorting Hat?" she asked as the scroll dropped back down onto the pedestal.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Remy replied, "so, east or west?"

"I don't know; west I guess," Liane replied.

"Okay, then, Mitchell and I will go east, and we'll meet back here with the items," Remy said, nodding.

"Is it such a good idea to be splitting up like this?" Mitchell asked, "we have no idea what's waiting for us down there."

"Mitchell's right," Yvette added, "you're exhausted, Liane, if we get into another fight I'm going to be useless. We need to stick together."

Liane nodded, turning to Remy. "They have a point," she said.

"Yeah, fair enough. But we better be quick; we need to get through this in an hour if we want to get back to the pitch on time," they replied, and the four of them moved to the westward door.

The chamber it led off to was circular, lit up by a skylight in the ceiling, and was filled with hundreds upon thousands of small crystal carvings, fracturing the light into a thousand rainbows. As Liane looked closer, she realised the crystals were all mounted on fine silver chains which dangled in the air. When they stepped inside, the crystals all turned, and the light refracting through them formed words across the floor.

"Take the true pendant in your hand. Choose wisely," Yvette read.

"How on earth are we meant to know which is the true pendant?" Mitchell asked.

"There's got to be clues, let's think about it; a charmed gargoyles-" Liane began.

"Grotesques-" Yvette interjected.

"Whatever, riddles, cyphers and puzzles… Remy, Mitchell, when you two were fighting off the knights in the fort you found, did you see any house crests?" Liane asked.

"Yeah," Remy said, rolling their shoulders, "Hufflepuff badgers. Why?" they asked.

Liane turned around, showing the silver serpent crest on her shield.

"These forts were all built by the founders; I bet there's a Gryffindor one around somewhere as well, but I'm willing to eat my wand if this isn't Ravenclaw's," she said, turning back around.

"So, you're saying the puzzles are set with Rowena Ravenclaw in mind?" Mitchell asked.

"Yes," Liane said, nodding.

"What does that mean?" Remy asked. Liane took in a breath, and paused.

"I have no idea," she said, deflating.

"It does actually help a little, though; look," Yvette said, pointing at one crystal. Liane looked closer and saw it was shaped like a small horse and was mounted on gold chain, not silver.

"See, they're not all exactly alike; there are some that are different," Yvette explained.

"What did the riddle say?" Remy asked, "the first is the 'core of life', what does that mean?"

Yvette looked around the room, peering into the cluster of crystal, before she stepped forward.

"This one," she said, pointing, "I'd stake my life on it."

Liane followed her finger and saw what Yvette had found; amongst all the shimmering colours of the prismatic display, one glittered in only a single hue. A sapphire heart, suspended on a bronze chain.

"The core of life: heart, and bronze and blue, Ravenclaw's colours," Yvette explained.

Liane nodded. "Any complaints?" she asked, turning to the others, who both shook their heads. Turning to Yvette she nodded again. "Alright, grab it," she said.

Yvette bit her lip, looking at the pendant hanging in the air, but when she turned to Liane her expression shifted, became more resolute. She nodded, and reaching out grabbed the pendant.

Once it was in her hand, there was a sound of rushing air, as the charm that held all of the other crystals levitating gave way, and the glass rained down. Liane grabbed Yvette and pulled her back, turning around to let the crystals rain harmlessly down against the shield, holding her arm over Yvette's head to protect her. A second later the tinkling of glass shards ceased, and Liane straightened up, looking around.

"I guess that's why we had to choose wisely; if we'd grabbed anything else the real pendant would have shattered," she said, more or less to herself as she was sure the others were thinking the same thing.

"Still, on the face of it, not too difficult; once you'd worked out the Ravenclaw angle the rest fell into place. Look; the next door is opening," Remy said, pointing to the other end of the room where, sure enough, a door was swinging open.

Liane took the lead, entering the next room first. Where the previous room had been circular, this room was square, and tiled in a grid of uniform one metre square cream marble tiles. On each tile was a picture of some kind of animal, and in the centre of the room was a staff, hanging in the air, only reachable from the central tile just below it. The head of the staff was carved into the shape of a stern hawks-head, glaring down at the four of them as they took in the room.

"Any ideas?" Liane asked.

"I think I've seen something like this before; it's a stepping stone puzzle. If I'm right, only some of the tiles are safe to step on," Mitchell replied.

"What happens if we step on the wrong one?" Yvette asked nervously.

"Well, I'm guessing we're probably hit by stunners or sleep spells; except for the wyrmling, nothing really seems designed to really hurt us," Liane said, "even the knights moved too slowly to have done more than knock us out, come to think of it." Liane didn't mention the fear she'd felt during her first fight, but did blush a little when she realised it was most likely groundless.

"Well, let's think about this then; we're working from the idea that this fort is based on Ravenclaw. There are eight symbols on the ground; a snake, a lion, a badger, a hawk, an elephant, a wolf, a horse and a bear. If we're right about the puzzles being linked to Ravenclaw, then I'm willing to bet the hawks are the correct tiles. If I'm wrong, Liane, lasso me and pull me back off the board," Remy said. Liane nodded.

"You sure?" she asked.

"I'll be fine; if I'm not, chew out Longbottom for me," Remy said with a smile, before stepping forward onto the hawk tile nearest the door. Everyone held their breath as Remy's second foot came down onto the tile, and there was a pause as nothing happened.

"Hey, it's-" Remy began, before a loud sound of rasping stone filled the room, and the tiles began to shift around, changing positions around Remy's tile. When the movement finished, the nearest hawk tile to the one Remy was standing on was in a different spot, further away from the staff in the middle than previously.

"Okay," Remy muttered, "this makes things slightly more difficult."

"It's okay, Remy; look, there's still another hawk tile nearby. Just keep moving," Mitchell called out, and Remy nodded. Moving to the next tile, the shuffling began again, once more drawing Remy further away from the centre. After several more steps, Remy found themselves back at the beginning.

"This is useless," they yelled, "there's no telling where I'm going to go next!"

"Actually," Yvette said quietly, "that's not true."

Liane turned to Yvette. "You've spotted a pattern?" she asked.

"Well, the tiles rotate around a centre before the rotation moves to the next one along, you just can't tell because they rotate the entire grid at once. The only tile that doesn't move is the one Remy's standing on, but if you're able to look at the whole board and track the first movements, you can work out where the next hawk tile will appear," Yvette explained.

"But there's still only one tile available with each step Remy takes?" Mitchell asked.

"That's why we need to organise _which_ tiles are allowed to move and which ones to stay still. By getting all four of us on the field," Yvette answered.

Liane turned and looked out across the grid.

"You can track it all from out there?" she asked.

Yvette nodded. "I think so."

"Well, it's our only shot," Liane said, "so I'll go next. What do we do?"

"First, Remy, take that tile there," Yvette said, pointing to a hawk tile nearby. Remy moved forward, and the field reshuffled.

"Now, Liane, you next; take that one," Yvette said, pointing, and Liane stepped out onto the grid. When the field shuffled this time, one tile rotated around Remy towards Liane, before changing direction and stopping off to one side.

"Okay, now this is the tricky bit; when I say go, Mitchell step on this one here, Liane, that one over there, and Remy, this one close to me. One, two, three, go!" she yelled, and the three of them stepped forward together. When the shuffling began, the tiles around the three first-years span for a moment longer than the rest, finally stopping in a new pattern.

Step by step they followed Yvette's directions, their steps in unison as she called their movements with each turn, her eyes darting around the room as she carefully tracked how each tile moved and how each locked tile changed those movements. After a long string of turns, Mitchell found himself on the centre square, and he reached up and grabbed the staff.

"Okay," Yvette said, "now we need to get you to the other side. I think that once the staff reaches the edge of the room the puzzle should be solved. Take the one back this way," she directed.

"What about us?" Remy asked.

"We stay still for the moment; I've got you where I need you. Mitchell needs to get to that square there," Yvette pointed to a spot off to the other side of the room, "before we start moving again."

Mitchell nodded and stepped out onto the tile, the hawk-headed staff clasped firmly in his free hand. Following Yvette's directions he worked his way out to the side and back in towards the middle before reaching the square Yvette had pointed out, before she got Remy and then Liane to move again, locking into place three squares between Mitchell and the end near the closed door.

"Okay, Mitchell, you should have a straight line between where you are now and the edge of the grid," Yvette said, and Mitchell began to walk, slowly enough to allow the tiles to move into position. Sure enough, under his feet appeared a hawk tile with every step, and he finally stepped off onto the edge of the grid. There was a loud rasping sound as all of the other tiles flipped over, revealing hawks under each one, and when Liane tested the next tile along she found that the floor was solid and unchanging, allowing the others to follow her off the edge.

"Yvette, that was phenomenal," Liane said as they reached the other side.

"I like puzzles," Yvette replied, "it's easier for me to focus on working out how to get across a changing grid than it is for me to hurl myself into danger like you can, Liane."

"Doesn't make it any less impressive," Mitchell said, and Yvette smiled.

"The bonus points are pretty nice as well," Remy said, holding up their wristbands. Since entering the keep, Liane and Remy had earned twenty points, Mitchell fifteen, and Yvette nearly sixty.

"Why did I get so many?" Yvette asked, goggling at the number.

"Probably because you solved all of the puzzles so far; the cypher outside, the pendant and the grid. Remy and I got some points for bypassing the grotesques, and we all got points for teamwork, but you picked up all the big numbers," Liane replied, "in fact, we're now neck and neck, there's only five points between us, and you're in the lead."

"Well, let's keep moving," Remy said, "and see if we can catch up."

The next room was dark, and long. Before entering, Liane and Yvette brought up private lights, their beams only just beating back the darkness around them.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Mitchell said quietly.

"The last item down this way is something to do with an iron mask," Liane said, "keep an eye out."

As they stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind them, and Liane's hand instinctively went up to her shoulder to grab her shield. There was a sound of clinking chains, and Mitchell and Remy both moved over to the sides of the room, their wands drawn, while Yvette pressed her back to the door.

"Guys, find or make some cover; I'm going in," Liane said quietly, "cover me."

She crept forward slowly, her eyes darting around as she looked for some sign of what was going on.

" _Nox_ ," she whispered, and her light went out. Holding her wand up to her eyes, she began:

" _Vude-_ " but before she could finish there was a flicker of purple and blue light, before suddenly a violent flash of orange and yellow burst into Liane's vision. She ducked down under her shield just in time to feel a heavy thud as something large and metallic crashed into it. When Liane looked up again, she saw what had happened. At the other end of the room, looking like the nightmare version of the knights she'd fought before, was a monster of black armour and flames. It stood nearly three metres in height, and carried a huge ball and chain for a weapon. Every join and gap between the blackened plates spouted tongues of fire, and Liane felt the heat on her skin from halfway down the room.

"Oh, cr-" she began, before the ball and chain crashed into her shield again, throwing her backwards as Remy and Mitchell opened fire with water and ice charms. As the room began to smell a bit smoky, Liane reached up to her neck and found only loose yarn.

"Damn it," she muttered, before raising her wand.

" _Reducto_ ," she cast, aiming for the centre of the black knight's chest, but the spell bounced off, turning a stone in the wall to ashes.

"Oh, for crying out loud," she roared, "is _everything_ in this arena magic resistant?"

"Liane! Weak spot," Yvette shouted, and Liane nodded.

"Remy, Mitchell, you need to get behind it," she shouted.

"How do you propose we do that?" Mitchell yelled. Liane looked around, trying to think of something, when her eye caught on a shape near the ceiling. Darting to the side as the knight launched another swing her way, Liane fired a light spell up near the high vaulted roof.

Where the walls met the supports for the ceiling, there were statue heads, grotesques shaped like the heads of hawks.

"Mitchell, up there," Liane said, "I'll distract it, you use the spell I taught you."

Not daring take her eyes away from the knight for long enough to check if Mitchell had understood, Liane raised her wand again.

" _Lassus Nectere Passus_ ," she cast, and grabbed the ball and chain out of the air.

"Secure. Retract," she commanded, and the line went taught. Liane leant backwards, digging her heels in, and the black knight pulled back on the chain, dragging Liane forwards.

"Yvette! Help!" Liane cried out. Yvette cowered near the door, her head over her face.

"I don't know what to do!" Yvette replied, "Liane I'm scared."

"Make me stronger or heavier or something; Yvette I'm counting on you!" Liane screamed, skidding forward another few inches as the black knight pulled the chain back further.

"I...I don't…"

"Yvette!"

" _Engorgio_ ," Yvette cast, her face turned away, her wand shaking in her grip. Drained of magic, Yvette collapsed, but the damage was done.

Liane felt the magic in her belly, worming its way through her back and across her shoulders. She felt her arms and legs grow longer, felt the broadening of her hips and shoulders, felt her ribcage expand. Her head ballooned out, and her hand tightened around her wand. When she stopped growing, Liane looked up at the knight, her eyes almost level with his.

"Okay, baby, let's see what you've got," she growled, dropping her shield and drawing her sword. With a jerk, she pulled the ball and chain from the knight's hand and detached her lasso, before she barrelled forwards, bringing the sword around in a wide arc, which the knight blocked on his gauntleted wrist.

" _Aguamenti_ ," Liane cast as she brought her wand around, trailing water, and jabbed it into the gap between the breastplate and the left shoulder pauldron. There was a hiss of steam as the black knight stumbled, and Liane bounced away, repositioning her sword to swipe at the fragile hinges on the gauntlet fingers, sending two of them flying.

The knight stepped forward, bringing its left fist around in a hook, and Liane caught it on the flat of her blade, jabbing the wand, still trailing water, under the armpit of the knight with another vicious hiss.

" _Velocitaqua_ ," she cast, but there was no effect. The knight took her moment of irritation to slap Liane backhanded across the face, sending her stumbling backwards. Liane shook her head, trying to clear the stars from her vision, and barely had time to duck as the knight barrelled towards her. Stepping aside in her crouch, Liane came up beside the knight and slammed her sword into the back of its head. The knight bent a knee and shoulder checked Liane into the wall, leaving patches of flame on her robes.

" _Aguamenti,_ " Liane cast, dousing herself as the knight backed away, grabbing his ball and chain from the ground.

"Your armour is magic resistant," Liane growled, "what about that; _bombarda_ ," she cast, hitting the ball and shattering it into shards of iron. The knight turned away from the explosion, letting Liane hurl herself forward and jab her wand into the underside of the breastplate, sending another water charm straight into the chest.

The knight flared with light, a voiceless roar, and whipped out with its chain, grabbing Liane around the leg. When it pulled back, Liane's foot went out from under her, and she fell heavily onto her back. As the knight stood over her, it placed its wounded hand in the other, a double handed fist, and raised them over its head for a final, crushing blow, when it stopped suddenly, the fires dying out. Crumbling to the ground, Liane looked over to see Mitchell standing with his wand raised, behind the knight.

"You took your time," Liane said, pushing herself upright.

"It took me a second to realise you wanted me to monkey swing across the room, because that's _mental_ , and then I had to find the weak spot," Mitchell replied.

"Well, thanks anyway," Liane said, putting a large hand on his shoulder.

"You didn't do so bad yourself," Remy said, coming over, "Yvette's spell did a number on you. What are you now, six foot nine, six ten?" they asked.

"Something like that; it's kinda nice, to be honest. My wand doesn't feel as awkwardly large," Liane replied. She looked down at the remains of the knight, and gave it a kick. When her foot made contact, the armour began to fall apart, turning to ash. When it had all but turned to dust, all that was left was the helmet.

"That would be the iron mask," Liane said, picking it up.

"That's everything down this way," Mitchell said, grabbing Liane's shield and handing it to her. Liane rehooked the shield and sword on her back and put away her wand, before she walked over to Yvette.

"Poor girl is exhausted; I'll carry her," Liane said, taking Yvette's wand from her hand and putting it in her robes, and grabbing the sapphire pendant and throwing it over her neck. Liane turned, about to hand off the iron mask to Remy, but then stopped.

"What's the matter?" Remy asked. Liane looked into the eyeholes of the helmet, a strange urging in the back of her mind. After a moment, she shrugged, and handed it over.

"Nothing; come on, let's go," Liane said, gathering Yvette up in her arms.


	14. Chapter 14: Score Correction

Chapter 14: Score Correction

Liane placed Yvette down on the floor beside the altar, placing her bundled up jumper under Yvette's head.

"Should someone stay with her?" Mitchell asked.

Liane frowned. "I'm not sure; we may need all the help we can get going down the eastern path. Close those doors and seal them, and lets hope that it's enough to keep out anyone else coming by," she said. Mitchell nodded and moved over to the doors, pushing them shut.

" _Colloportus_ ," he cast, and the doors sealed up.

"Right, let's go," Remy said, and Liane and Mitchell followed them to the eastern door.

The door led out into a courtyard garden, the walls covered in flowering creeping vines, a heady scent hanging in the air.

"So, this challenge is something about 'silken midnight', whatever that means," Remy said.

"Maybe it's a lethifold," Liane said with a laugh.

There was a flicker of movement at the back of the garden, and everyone froze. Liane turned to Remy, a stunned look on her face.

"They wouldn't," she said, and Remy shot up, growing to match Liane's enlarged height as they drew their wand.

"Spread out; keep everyone else in sight. Yell out if you get into trouble," Liane said, drawing her sword into her free hand.

The three of them moved apart, their eyes roving back and forth across the garden, trying to see what was going to happen next.

"I thought this was supposed to be about puzzles," Remy muttered, "this is the second fight we've walked into."

"Well, to be fair, we don't know if this is actually a fight," Mitchell replied.

"And there was a puzzle element to the last one as well, remember; I wasn't going to win that fight toe-to-toe, Mitchell had to hit it in the back," Liane added.

Remy shrugged. "So where's the puzzle here?" they asked.

There was a flurry of movement, and all three raised their wands in time to see a curtain falling across the sky, surrounding all three of them and plunging them into darkness. Liane slashed out with her sword but there was nothing for it to gain purchase on; the darkness that surrounded them was not normal.

"Remy! Mitchell!" Liane cried out.

"I'm here," Remy's voice called from the dark.

"Me too," Mitchell chimed in.

Liane carefully sheathed her sword before lighting up her wand. The ground beneath her feet had changed from the garden grass to a flat black plane, faintly reflecting her from below. Liane took a tentative step forward, waving her wand back and forth. A moment later she saw another light appear off to one side, and then another further along, tiny dots of light in the darkness. Moving towards the nearer one, she found Mitchell waving his light back and forth, and Remy appeared shortly from the other side.

"What was that?" Mitchell asked.

"No idea, but I have a feeling we're not merely surrounded by thick cloth; look at the ground," Liane said, and the other two lowered their wands to look.

"So what, pocket universe?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't know; sci-fi's never been my thing," Liane replied.

"So what do we do now?" Remy asked, "I figure this is the challenge, find our way out of here."

Liane shrugged. "I suppose we'll have to find some kind of clue," she said, gesturing with her wand in a random direction.

"Lead on _mon capitaine_ ," Remy said, "your direction is as good as any other."

Liane shrugged, walking forward, Remy and Mitchell following as she followed the endless expanse of black, seeing nothing but the light from each of their wands.

They walked on in silence, their eyes roving across the darkness for any sign of movement. After a few minutes, Liane began to get frustrated.

"What are we meant to do?" she growled, "there's nothing here."

"It's too dark to see anything, even if there was," Remy said.

Liane turned back to face the others.

"Remy, you look out that way, Mitchell, you look that way," Liane said, pointing away from the light.

"What are you going to do?" Remy asked, half-turning.

"Hoping there's not another wyrmling. _Nox_ ," Liane said, extinguishing her wand. Turning away from the others, she held her wand up in the air.

" _Lumos Solem_ ," she cast, and light flooded the area. For a brief moment, Liane could see all of the area they had been moved to; it was large, square and unadorned, save for large square blocks of various sizes littered all around. Just as the light was fading, she looked up, and there she saw it; a trap door set in the ceiling.

"I've worked out the puzzle," Liane said as the light shrunk back to the pale glow from Remy and Mitchell's wands.

"What is it?" Mitchell asked.

"Trap door in the ceiling; we're going to have to move those blocks over underneath."

"What's so hard about that?" Remy asked.

"Well, at first, nothing," Liane replied, "just tedious. Think about it, Remy; those blocks are massive, it's going to take all three of us to levitate them into place. And if we're all levitating the block, who's lighting the way?"

"Oh," Remy said, "well that's fantastic."

"Look, the sooner we start, the sooner we get up there; come on, the big one is over there," Mitchell said, pointing his wand off in the direction he'd been looking.

"Hold on; I can at least make the first couple quick," Liane said, and she started to cast private lights into the air, where they hung like small fairy lights.

"They don't cast much light and if you get out of their range they vanish entirely from view, but it means we can orient the block properly without putting it down over and over," Liane said, and the others nodded. Striking off in the direction Mitchell had pointed, they walked across the dark room until a faint glimmer of reflection told them they had found the block. Liane lit one more private light to mark the direction, and then all three turned to the block.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," they cast, and slowly the block lifted into the air, precariously balancing on three invisible streams of magic. Carefully and cautiously, they drew the block up into the air, over their heads, and carried it back towards the ring of lights in the centre of the room.

Back and forth they went, collecting blocks; the second and third went straight down on top of the first, then after that they ordered them out onto the ground so that they could stack them without having to stumble around. When they were ready to start situating the fourth, Liane was starting work up a sweat.

"Here's me thinking 'Oh, I'll leave Yvette's wand with her in case she wakes up'; I could be lifting with one hand and lighting with the other," Liane complained.

"Can you do that?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't see why not; I've seen wizards carrying wands and staves before, why not two wands?" Remy replied, "old Moody used to do it all the time."

" _Mad-Eye_ Moody? You're comparing Liane to Mad-Eye Moody?" Mitchell asked with a snigger.

"What, you can't see the resemblance? You can't picture her yelling 'Constant Vigilance' at a bunch of terrified first-year Aurors?" Remy asked as Mitchell cackled.

Liane flicked pinching hex at Remy.

"Hey guys, Muggle-born here, sorta; who?" she asked.

"You've got to know who Mad-Eye is; you must have read half the library by now," Remy asked.

"Firstly, no, I've only managed one complete shelf so far. And secondly, no; the only Moody I know is Alastor Moody from the Potter biography," Liane said. Remy nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one; the bio cleans it up a bit, but Moody was a crazy old super-Auror, carried a staff and a wand and had a fake eye that could see through walls," Remy replied, before frowning as Liane perked up, " _no!_ Now shut up and lift."

Liane clambered up to the block second from the top and extinguished her wand. When she had a grip on the block, the others extinguished their lights and took hold, lifting the block into the air. Liane worked mostly by feel, drawing the block close to her so that she could place her hand on the side, guiding it around into its position at the top.

When it was in place, Liane cut her connection to the block and fired another sunlight blast into the air, letting Mitchell and Remy know to cut off their own spells, and helped her see how much closer they were to the trap door.

"We're nearly there," Liane called down.

"Just two more blocks to go," Remy yelled back.

The other two lit up their wands and moved over to the next block, setting up to raise it up to Liane's reach as she clambered up the next step. When they were in position, the two down on the floor raised the next one up on their own, as it was smaller and lighter than the ones before, and Liane was able to position it without issue. When the final one was in place, Liane stepped up on top of it and found the trap door in the ceiling.

"We did it! I'm going to push the trap door open," she yelled down, before placing both hands on the trap door and pushing.

Liane felt dizzy, unsteady on her feet, and she took a step backwards, her heart leaping to her throat as she expected to fall off the pyramid of blocks. Instead, she found her foot coming down onto grass, and she looked up to see the late afternoon sunlight streaming down into the garden. Across her shoulders, the hood up over her head, Liane found a silk cloak, the colour of darkest blue. As she reached up to push the hood back off her head, Remy and Mitchell tumbled to the ground in front of her, coming out from under the cloak.

"The hell was that," Remy said, squeezing their eyes shut and rubbing their head as they lay on their back in the grass.

"We did it; we passed the challenge," Mitchell replied, looking up at Liane.

"Yeah; silken midnight bound us, and silken midnight looks _good_ ," Liane said, swishing the cloak, "I sure hope we get to keep this stuff after the qualifiers are over. How much time did we waste?" she asked.

Remy checked the time on their wand. "Huh, not much time at all; we've still got twenty minutes left to get the last two tokens and finish the challenge before we have to leave."

"Right," Mitchell said, getting up, "then let's go."

Crossing to the next door, the three of them moved on, finding another section of the gardens, this time with a fountain in the middle. A sweet singing captured the air, and Mitchell's eyes glazed over, as he stepped forward onto the paving stones around the fountain.

"What's going on?" Liane asked. Remy waved a hand in front of Mitchell's face.

"I dunno; he's in a trance of some kind. It must be the singing," Remy replied.

"What, like a siren? That seems bizarre," Liane said, looking around, "if it only affects guys what would they do when girls come through here?"

"We have that covered," came a voice, and Liane and Remy turned to look as a figure made of water stepped out from the fountain. More figures rose from the water's surface and joined the singing.

Liane felt her mind grow heavy and clouded, like it was sitting in warm cotton wool. Her eyes began to droop, and her thoughts struggled to move through her brain. All she felt was calm, serenity, a sense of-

The feeling shuddered to a halt as Liane's ears were assaulted by a piercing, screaming hiss, and she came to to see wet trails leading off in all directions, a cloud of steam hanging in the air, and Remy standing, wand out, a fierce expression on their face and a large belt draped over their shoulder.

"What happened?" Mitchell asked.

"Merlin damn you sons of-" Remy mumbled, stomping forward, "come on, I don't want to talk about it."

Liane looked around at the remains of the fountain, now bone dry and warm to the touch, and decided that for her own safety she didn't want to ask about it.

The final area was a stepped garden that looked out over a wide ravine, the same one that cut through the Hogwarts grounds to the north. From the door, the stepped features made it look as though the garden dropped straight off the side of the cliff, although as they walked forward they could see the lower levels.

"Careful," Liane said, "the last room on the western side was a tough battle, there's no telling what's out here."

"There's a statue," Remy said, pointing. Liane looked and sure enough, there at the bottom of the garden, looking out over the ravine, was a statue of a woman in flowing robes.

The three of them made their way down and found the statue stood in front of a wide deck, lined in stone. Beneath the statue was an inscription, and beneath that inscription was a black space.

Liane read the inscription.

" _Mens mea supra modum thesaurum_ ," she read aloud, "what does that mean?"

"It's latin; I know a little," Mitchell said, "although this is more Yvette's thing. Modus...is measuring, and thesaurum is treasure; oh I get it, it's Ravenclaw's motto: wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."

"Hold on; doesn't mea mean my or me? So, shouldn't it be: my mind, for mens, my mind beyond measure is _my_ greatest treasure?" Remy asked.

"Huh, you're right. But, what's the riddle?" Mitchell asked.

Liane looked up at the statue, carefully looking all around it for any sign, when she saw it.

"Look at her hand; the statue is wearing a real ring," she said, pointing it out to the others.

"That must be the final token; so how do we get it?" Remy asked. Liane looked back at the statue.

"For some reason, I think it would be a bad idea to try and blow our way through this one. Let's think this through; what does the motto tell us?" Liane asked.

"That she was fond of her intelligence?" Mitchell asked.

"Not merely that, that she thought intelligence, and not just intelligence but creativity and curiosity too, were the best things in humanity," Remy added.

"So...so what if we're meant to add something?" Liane asked, "there's a space here to put another inscription, maybe this isn't to test our problem solving, but to test our regard for the values of Ravenclaw."

"Too bad we're two Slytherins and a Gryffindor," Remy replied.

"Well, so what; those values can apply to a Slytherin as much as to a Ravenclaw," Liane said, "the difference is we use curiosity as a means to an end, not as an end in itself."

Liane turned to the statue and took in a breath. "We don't have a lot of time, but I have an idea," she said, raising her wand.

As Liane carved, the other two craned to see, but she did not move back to reveal the finished product until the end. In hasty, angular lettering, the new inscription read:

 _It is the duty of all those with knowledge to share it._

There was a gust of wind that nearly knocked Liane back, and she covered her face with her arms to protect herself, stepping back. Remy and Mitchell fell to the ground, and their gasps of shock told Liane something else had happened. When she looked up, the statue had changed; it wore a long cloak, a helmet, a belt, a pendant and held a staff in its hand. In its other hand, held gently between two fingers, was the ring. Liane reached up and took the ring from the statue, and even though the helmet covered her face, Liane was sure Ravenclaw was smiling.

"That's everything; come on, let's go," Liane said, slipping the ring on her finger.

As they made it back to the door that had originally led out into the garden, Liane heard voices on the other side.

"Mitchell, I thought you sealed the doors?" Liane asked. Mitchell shrugged.

"I did, but it's not like _alohomora_ is especially difficult to learn," he replied in a whisper. Liane cracked open the door and peeked outside.

In the middle of the room beyond, around the altar, Liane saw Peter Lysander, Freddy Dodgson and the Pascalls.

"So good of Langford to knock out her own teammate for us," Wesley said, leaning against the altar and looking down at Yvette.

"Get away from there Wes, stop being a creep," Erica called back, reading through the parchment. Wesley straightened up and looked over at Peter and Freddy.

"Hey, you two; how much longer until Langford shows up with the rest of the stuff?" he called out.

"Can it, Pascall," Peter replied, "it shouldn't be long now. Just make sure you've got everything ready for when they get here."

"Yeah, yeah, we're up for it," Wesley replied, "I want to get some revenge on Langford."

"Consider yourself lucky we didn't leave you two to be picked up by the refs," Freddy shot back, "or else you'd be sitting in the stands back at the Quidditch pitch by now."

Liane looked back at Mitchell and Remy, and gave them a nod, before drawing her shield and wand. Remy and Mitchell took position either side of her, and Mitchell raise his wand first.

" _Bombarda_ ," he cast, and a second later Remy followed up.

" _Flipendo_ ," they added, and the door blew of its hinges and then launched across the room, knocking Lysander and Dodgson off their feet. Liane charged through, firing a sleeper at Erica before the other girl could drop the scroll to reach for her wand, holding the shield between herself and Wesley.

"Liane!" Wesley roared, lifting his wand, firing off a sleep spell that splashed harmlessly across Liane's shield. Liane didn't slow down, and as Wesley finally realised something was wrong, that Liane was not the size she normally was, Liane had already smashed into him, throwing him back onto the ground. Liane span, firing another sleeper into Wesley in the same movement she put the shield between herself and the other two boys, who had flipped the door up and were firing over it at Liane and at the doorway, where Remy was already exiting surrounded by a prism shield, Mitchell following them and firing around the shield at Peter. Liane hunkered down behind her shield, raising her wand over her head.

" _Reducto_ ," she fired, and the door collapsed into ashes.

Peter immediately stood up, his hands in the air.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot," he yelled, throwing his wand on the floor. Freddy followed suit.

"We surrender," Freddy added.

Liane straightened up as Remy moved over to check on Yvette. Once they'd confirmed she was unhurt, Liane turned back to the others.

"You guys are good, but teaming up with the Pascalls? Way to put rotten eggs in the basket? Who else is here, Jessica Price?" Liane asked.

"We thought if we revived them and brought them back into the competition we could get them to do as we say," Peter said.

"Well, get comfy," Mitchell said, "because there is no way we're letting you walk out."

"Wait; if you have us at wand point when we send up red sparks, you get extra points," Freddy said, "no sleepers, everybody wins."

Liane looked at Remy and Yvette as the other girl started to come around, and turned back to the two boys.

"Okay, Duellers code. Come on," she said, and she and Mitchell escorted the two of them outside to be collected by referees.

Once that was done, they returned to the altar to find Yvette sitting up, having a drink of water from a bottle she'd had ferreted away in one of the many pockets on her suit.

"You guys made it, and in good time, too," Yvette said, smiling. Liane nodded.

"Yeah, not good enough I'm afraid; it's a quarter passed five, we're never going to make it back now," she said glumly.

"Well, might as well see what all the fuss was about," Yvette said with a shrug.

As Yvette stood, Liane walked over and carefully placed the ring, the belt and the cloak down next to the pendant, the staff and the helmet.

Nothing happened.

"Wow, I'm so amazed," Remy said in a dry monotone.

"This can't be it," Yvette said, frowning.

"Wait," Mitchell said, "Liane, why don't you try dressing like that statue back there?"

"What? Why?" Liane asked.

"It can't hurt; the statue made a point of showing us all the pieces together like that, and nothing's happening with them all on the altar like this. Why not?" Mitchell asked.

"Can't argue with that," Liane said, and put the pieces on one by one; first the pendant around her neck, then the staff in her hand, then the helmet on her head. It was tricky putting the cloak and belt on whilst holding the staff, but she managed it, and finally, she placed the ring on her finger.

Once all the pieces were in place, the scroll once more lifted into the air and unfurled.

" _Rowena Ravenclaw; speak your command, and open the way to the tower_ ," the scroll boomed. There was a pause as Yvette, Remy and Mitchell looked at Liane, who turned and looked back at them from behind the cold slits of the helmet.

"Uh, open?" she said nervously, and there was a searing light as the scroll unfurled all the way to the floor and widened, becoming an archway behind the altar. Inside the arch was nothing but white light, which after a moment lowered in intensity, allowing them all to look at it.

"Well, we may as well," Liane said, and she walked forward. The altar dropped into the floor, and Liane was able to walk straight through the arch, Yvette, Remy and Mitchell following behind.

When the light faded from Liane's view, she was standing back on the Quidditch pitch. In addition, she was once more her proper size, and she was no longer dressed as Rowena Ravenclaw, although she was still wearing her sword and shield slung across her back. Looking around, she saw Remy and Mitchell off to one side of her, and Yvette on the other.

"And with that spectacular if unexpected entrance, the time has run out, meaning the teams of Liane Langford and Yvette Delacroix and Mitchell Monroe and Remy Scofield have got their points in just under the wire," came Lion's voice, and Liane looked up to see the scoreboards hanging in the middle of the pitch, showing the top names. When the boards updated, Liane looked for her name.

"Rose Weasley, 280, Albus Potter, 262, Scorpius Malfoy, 260, Bertie Macmillan, 244, Gabrielle Lorde, 240… Liane Langford, 239," she read, crestfallen, "I came sixth, there was one point in it and I came sixth."

"Hey, you still beat us," Remy said, "Remy Scofield, 236, Mitchell Monroe, 220, and there's Yvette at ninth place with 204."

"Hey, top ten though," Liane said with a weak smile, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Come on, let's get some food; we've been running around for ten hours, we deserve it," Remy said, and Liane began to follow him out when Lion started speaking again.

"We're still tracking down which students busted through the supposedly magic-proof barrier and took on an unscored challenge that was meant for the fourth years, so keep an eye out folks," he said. The four of them stopped in their tracks, turning and looking at one another.

"No," Remy began.

"Do you think?" Mitchell added.

"It couldn't be," Liane stammered.

Yvette drew her wand. "Liane, picture that fight with the wyrmling," she said.

"I've been trying not to," Liane replied.

"Just do it!"

"Okay, okay; fine," Liane said, closing her eyes, "I'm thinking of it."

" _Apperiator Dormia_ ," Yvette cast, and the burst of silver light shot through Liane's head and up into the stands. The entire audience gasped as they were met with the first-person vision of Liane's memory as a wyrmling hurled itself at her while she desperately launched a stunning spell down its throat. As the cloud vanished, Professor Longbottom's voice rang out through the pitch.

"Langford, Monroe, Scofield, Delacroix, in the medhall. _Now!_ "

Liane shot a nervous glance at the others as they moved across the pitch to the tent set up out the front of the team B changing rooms. Once inside, they were directed to a private area by Madam Pomfrey, and a short time later Professor Longbottom appeared, ordered Mitchell to follow him and then led the boy off behind a screen. When he returned about five minutes later to do the same with Yvette, and then Remy, Liane was left alone and feeling very nervous.

When he returned once more, Professor Longbottom gestured to Liane and she jumped to her feet, following him out passed the partition.

"Okay, Liane," Professor Longbottom said, moving aside to show Professors McGonagall, Slughorn and Flitwick were also all in attendance, "just explain, in your own words, what happened."

Liane felt all the adrenaline, nervousness and exhaustion overtake her mouth as she launched into a long, rambling and detailed rendition of cutting through the thorn bush with the sword, lighting up the cavern, fighting the wyrmling and eventually stunning it. When they didn't stop her, she continued on, telling the assembled professors all about the fort and the challenges they'd faced and the sense of power she'd felt coming off the helmet and the bright light that had teleported them all to the pitch and the forty-five minutes that Liane couldn't seem to place.

At the end, Professor Longbottom thanked her for her time, and asked her to leave. Liane stepped out into the rest of the medhall, was quickly given a once over by Madam Pomfrey and given a salve for her many bruises and burns and a pepper-up potion for her exhaustion, and then directed across the pitch to the food tent that was supplying savory pastries and pumpkin juice to the returning contestants. When Liane was almost to the food tent, Lion's voice rang out once more.

"Ladies and gentlemen, some last minute points have been awarded, resulting in a stunning upset. Please turn your attention to the scoreboards for your top five," he said. Liane turned and looked up, her eyes on the five slots that had turned blank.

"In fifth place, with 254 points, Remy Scofield! In fourth place, with 260 points, Scorpius Malfoy! In third place, with 262 points, Albus Potter! In second place, with 280 points, Rose Weasley!" Lion announced, rounds of cheers roaring through the crowd. Liane looked at the final blank space with wide eyes, her whole body thrumming with anticipation.

"And, your champion, with a whopping 312 points; the Most Dangerous Witch in Hogwarts, ladies and gentlemen Liane Langford!" Lion announced, and Liane's name appeared in the top space. The crowd cheered, and the students from the food tent poured out to gather around Liane, lifting her into the air. Liane saw Bertie, clapping away like a madman even though he'd been knocked from the team, and saw Albus and Scorpius standing together, whooping and hollering as they cheered for her. When the crowd put her down again, Liane found Cassandra hurling herself at her, almost bowling Liane over as she hugged her best friend.

"You did it! I can't believe it, Liane, you did it!" she was crying, and Liane pulled her tight. When she broke away again, Cassandra looked around.

"James is throwing a party for the champions tonight, celebrating Albus' win, before he competes tomorrow night. Everyone will be there," she said, and Liane grinned.

"Like the Gryffindors need an excuse. I'll tell Remy," Liane replied.

"Oh, they probably already know," Yvette said, appearing at Liane's shoulder.

The crowd held on for a couple of minutes before it started to dissolve, everyone splitting off to tell their own stories of the event. Despite all the people clamouring around her for information on the wyrmling, Liane took Yvette and Cassandra around to find the rest of their group.

"Liane! Congratulations!" Bertie said, swooping in to pat her on what little of her back he could reach behind her shield.

"Hey, you too; I'm sorry about all that, you getting knocked off the end like that," Liane replied.

"Oh, I'm fine; Gabriella's a bit sour, but she'll get over it," he said, waving noncommittally.

"And you two; congratulations," Liane said, turning to Albus and Scorpius, "I guess you finally worked out how to work together?"

The two boys shared a brief glance, before turning back to Liane.

"Yeah, I guess we did," Albus replied, and Liane raised an eyebrow.

"Don't think I'm not going to ask what _that_ was about, but come on; your brother is throwing a party and I fully plan on eating my way through an entire table of food," Liane said, " _after_ I drop this," she patted the shield on her back, "off in my room and have a long shower."

The party was hosted in a disused classroom, ringed with quieting charms, as there was a noticeably larger teacher presence patrolling the sixth floor. Liane's suspicions that the party was tacitly approved of by the teachers was partially confirmed when Longbottom broke it up at about one in the morning and didn't hand out any detentions or even deduct any points.

The rest of the week was endless excitement; Liane went down every morning to watch the events from the stands at the Quidditch pitch, cheering on James and her other friends from older years as they competed. The surprise upset was the fifth year team comprising of Jeremy Price, the favourite, and all four Slytherin prefects, creating a team that was overwhelmingly geared towards one house, compared with the years two through four which were mostly spread about.

"That's two teams with high Slytherin turnout; even if we have no-one in second year competing that's thirty-six percent, way more than a quarter," Scorpius said smugly as the fifth years were announced.

"Ravenclaw and Gryffindor aren't too far behind though," Liane added, "the poor Hufflepuffs are taking a beating though."

"They had a champion in the last one though," Bertie said, and Liane shrugged.

"So did Gryffindor; and just wait, I bet there's three of them in the seventh-year team," she replied.

As if fate had listened to them speak, the sixth-year team was comprised of three Ravenclaws and two Gryffindors, bringing the Ravenclaw numbers up to the same amount as Slytherin.

The entire school came out for what was to be the big event, the seventh-year qualifiers. Lion and Tania were teamed together, as were Mietta and Donovan, and the two teams seemed to join forces immediately. All four turned their wands on themselves, their robes clinging to their bodies as they rose into the air, and then turned invisible. The scoreboards came down after the siren blasted, and in seconds there was already points on the board as a great swathe of other players collapsed under stunners that came from nowhere.

"Gee, this is exciting," Liane said dryly, "they're all invisible!"

"Hold on, I think Professor Delacroix is adjusting the view screens," Cassandra said, and sure enough there was Yvette's mother casting something on the large floating screens hanging in the air above the spectators. As the image adjusted, fuzzy, translucent images of the four Duellers appeared, watching them zoom through the forest. Liane shuddered when she saw the wyrmling appear once again, then watched on in stunned surprise as Lion met it head on, grabbing its teeth in his hands and forcing its jaw open.

"How is he doing that?" Yvette asked.

"His spellcraft spell," Liane explained, "Rudzani told me; it's like the standard shield spell but it adheres to your skin. He's invulnerable as long as the spell holds out."

"Handy," Bertie said, impressed, watching as Donovan dropped a stunner down the wyrmling's throat.

"Indeed. Aren't these challenges meant to be harder?" Remy asked, "even the fifth-years were able to take that thing on in teams of two."

"They are; look," Albus pointed out as two more beasts, larger and more vicious, appeared from deeper into the cave.

"That thing was a _baby_?" Liane yelped, watching as the four Duellers took on the angry parents of the beast that still haunted Liane's nightmares.

"Seems so," Remy said, looking equally as pale.

Content that the top four places were basically secure, Liane checked the scoreboard to see who was working their way into the coveted fifth spot.

"Who is Shae Clifford?" Liane asked.

"The Ancient Runes STA; why?" Albus asked.

"Because she just picked up a hundred points in one go," Liane said, pointing at the name leaping up the scoreboard into seventh place. Remy pulled out a running sheet that listed the team match-ups for the spectators.

"She's teamed with Kain Winslet, the Potions STA; another strong team, but they got overlooked in the excitement of the Lion/Tania, Mietta/Donovan match-ups," Remy explained.

"Where did she get all those points from?" Scorpius asked.

Liane leaned forward to Booker, who was looking on the event through a smaller, personal viewscreen.

"Hey, could we borrow that for a moment?" she asked.

Booker looked up nervously. "What do you want it for?" he asked.

"We're wanting to see what Winslet and Clifford are up to," Liane explained. Booker nodded, and he and Molly turned in their seats to show the screen to the crowd of first years behind them, changing the stream over to the image of Kain and Shae.

They were at the fort at the bottom of the forest already, and Kain was pouring liquid from a large flask out on the threshold of the fort.

"What is that?" Yvette asked.

"No idea, but if Winslet made it I'm not sure I would want to be the one to find out," Booker replied.

Kain Winslet was a short boy with middle-eastern features, possibly Israeli, although his skin was slightly more pallid then looked healthy. He didn't wear robes, but instead coveralls covered in pockets and a heavy leather apron and gloves; Liane couldn't even see where he kept his wand.

Shae Clifford, on the other hand, was a taller girl, a touch on the plump side but still with a cinched waist that meant she was more likely to be described as "curvy" then fat. She had a heart-shaped face and large blue eyes that made her quite attractive, but certainly looked like someone far more at home sitting at a desk then traipsing through the forest.

"She might actually have a shot," Liane said, "if she's able to solve the puzzles herself and not share the points with another team, she'll rake them in."

As they watched,Shae walked over to the two grotesques, engaging them in a quiet exchange. After a moment, the two statues vanished and the doors opened, five stars appearing in the walk between the doors and the altar.

"Wait, were they always there?" Liane asked.

Yvette turned a glare towards her friend. "Probably," she said coolly.

Liane cringed. "Sorry," she muttered.

They watched on as Shae and Kain progressed through the challenges swiftly, milking every last point out of the puzzles that they could. As the one primarily involved with the puzzle solving, Shae was picking up points faster than anyone else in the field, closing the gap between herself and the student in sixth place before she had even passed the staff chamber. Kain, on the other hand, seemed to have sabotaged himself; every potion he used barely made a dent in his points.

"What's up with Winslet's points?" Bertie asked.

"He made all of those potions beforehand, so the points aren't for ingenuity or tactical skill, he's just hitting stuff with tools he brought into the competition," Molly explained.

"Ow, I bet he's disappointed about that," Mitchell replied.

"He will be," Booker said, "when he finds out. Meanwhile, Clifford is nudging fifth."

The rest of the competition passed without any other upsets; Lion, Donovan, Mietta and Tania cleaned up the forest, while Shae and Kain cleared out the fort, no other group able to pass through Kain's barrier at the door. In the end Shae Clifford had taken out the fifth placing, putting her on a squad with the four Duellers.

"That's it," Remy said as the final scores were announced, "Hogwarts has its thirty-five competitors."

"Ten from Gryffindor, nine each from Ravenclaw and Slytherin, and seven Hufflepuffs. Not quite as unbalanced as it looked at first," Booker added.

"Well, we'd best practice hard," Liane said with a smile, "what do you think, Booker; any chance Jeremy and Donovan can come up with another event before the first task?"

"I think they'll be able to come up with something," Booker said, returning the smile, "something we haven't looked at yet."

"I look forward to it," Liane replied.

That night, to close the festivities, another feast was thrown at dinner. Once dinner had ended, before the desserts arrived, Professor Longbottom stood up.

"At the closing of the Hogwarts Qualifying tournament, I would like once more to recognise the winning teams. If the students called out could come to the front of the Hall, we can thank them properly.

"From first year; Slytherin's Liane Langford, Slytherin's Scorpius Malfoy, Gryffindor's Albus Potter, Slytherin's Remy Scofield and Ravenclaw's Rose Weasley. From second year; Gryffindor's Fantine Ayers, Ravenclaw's George Dover, Gryffindor's James Potter, Ravenclaw's Wyatt Tonkin and Hufflepuff's Petra Van Kaampf. From third year; Slytherin's Quinn Baxter, Gryffindor's Rhett Carver, Hufflepuff's Harvey Gordon, Hufflepuff's Isobel Reiner and Ravenclaw's Marina Watkins. From fourth year; Ravenclaw's Justine Hayward, Gryffindor's Farrah Mandelay, Slytherin's Danielle May, Hufflepuff's Susanna Rosenberg and Hufflepuff's Nigel Van Kaampf. From fifth year; Slytherin's Booker Fauchelevent, Slytherin's Rudzani Mandini, Slytherin's Wanda Mi, Hufflepuff's Jeremy Price and Slytherin's Molly Shepard. From sixth year, Gryffindor's Ben Carver, Ravenclaw's Clarissa Planchard, Ravenclaw's Angelica Watkins, Ravenclaw's Sarah Westlake and Gryffindor's Tyrion Wilder. And lastly, from seventh year; Hufflepuff's Shae Clifford, Gryffindor's Alastor Donovan, Gryffindor's Tania Hayward, Gryffindor's Peter Lyman and Ravenclaw's Mietta Scalieri."

Liane, her name called first, took to the front and watched as the long list of names was called out, looking closely at each person who stood up. These were the brightest students, the toughest, the bravest, the most loyal to their team members; everything that was valued by any Hogwarts house went into the making of the students who stood up to join her. Liane looked down the line, catching the eyes of her friends in the other years and smiling, while the whole of the Great Hall applauded them.

"These students have not only shown their ability, but their drive for success at any odds, and their conscientious acknowledgement of each others abilities. For this we are proud to have these thirty-five students representing Hogwarts. Please give them all a huge round of applause," Professor Longbottom said, and the applause doubled in volume. When it died down, the competitors returned to their seats, all except for Donovan and Jeremy, who had moved over to the podium Professor Longbottom stood at and were whispering to him. After a moment the Professor stood down and Donovan took his spot.

"Congratulations once again to all the competitors; it is a great honour to be amongst you. As many of you are no doubt aware, membership in Duellers is very strict, but we are pleased to see a huge percentage of our number in the competitor list. Which is why we have decided that, on October twenty-third, just under a week from now, we will be hosting an event that will be open to both Duellers members _and_ competitors, as a pre-season warm up before the first event on November fifth. This event will be by sign up only, and the sheet will be in the entrance hall until the twenty-second. Thank you all," Alastor said, and Liane perked up; Donovan must have been thinking the same thing as she had, to have gotten this all prepared so soon after she'd spoken to Booker.

"What do you think it's going to be?" Remy asked.

Liane shrugged. "Well, everything we've done so far has been indirect competition; teams going after the same neutral goal. If this is going to be different either it won't be competitive at all, or we'll be pitted against one another in a direct challenge."

"And given that it's a Duellers event, you're thinking more likely the latter than the former?" Remy asked, and Liane gave a nod.

"I can't imagine it would be totally non-competitive. Still, Booker said they'd try and go for something totally different, so who knows?" Liane replied.

"I'm just interested in finding out what's going to happen at Christmas," Remy replied. Liane raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, the Olympiad is based on the Triwizard; will there still be a Yule Ball this year? And if there is, will competitors still be required to open it?" Remy asked.

Liane's eyes widened. "A ball? I don't...no, come to mention it, I do remember something about a Yule Ball. I'd completely forgotten about it," she replied.

"Well, if it happened, who would you take?" Remy asked with a grin, "Albus? Scorpius? Mitchell or Bertie?"

Liane blushed. "I...don't think I'd go with any of them. They're...not really my type," she replied.

"Oh? So who is?" Remy asked.

"I'd really rather not talk about this, certainly not at the dinner table," Liane said, her face getting redder.

"Well, now I'm very intrigued," Remy said, their grin widening.

"What about you?" Liane asked, trying to change the topic, "who would you take?"

"Ideally, I'd have James Potter on one arm and Quinn Baxter on the other," Remy replied, and Liane let out a laugh.

"I wouldn't put that passed you," she replied.

"Well, can't help but try," Remy said with a shrug, "the best looking guy of second-year and the best looking girl in third; I'd shoot myself if I didn't at least ask."

"You wouldn't ask anyone in first-year?" Liane asked.

"Nah; all the good looking ones are already friends, and I have a rule about not asking out people I see every day," Remy replied.

"And James doesn't count?" Liane asked, and Remy merely grinned again.

After dinner, when everyone else had gone back to their various common rooms for the night, Liane signed her name on the sign-up sheet in the Entrance Hall and then, instead of heading down to the dungeons, went outside and walked down to the tree by the lake, sitting down with her wand and a book. She had intended to read by wandlight until curfew, but first she sat with her back to the tree trunk and looked out over the lake, shimmering in the moonlight.

As she looked out, Liane heard the sounds of muffled conversation coming from the doors to the castle, and looking over she saw a number of figures; Lion, Rudzani and James she recognised, the others she didn't know. After a moment, James left, then the ones Liane didn't know, leaving Rudzani and Lion together. Once the doors swung shut again, the two boys started walking down the path towards the forest. Intrigued, Liane got up and stashed her book inside her back in a hollow under a root, and slipped down to the path beside the lake, creeping around to follow the boys from a distance. When the two of them broke off the path and headed over the lawns around to the Herbology greenhouses, Liane swung around behind them, and followed them to the edge of the forest behind greenhouse four. When Liane got to the corner of the greenhouse and peeked around, the two boys were gone.

"What are you doing?" she muttered, drawing her wand. There was a broken branch lying nearby, and when Liane investigated she found it had snapped off a bush that had been torn free at the root and placed across a gap in the treeline, hiding a small pathway in through the thick underbrush. Liane had to stoop slightly to fit through, and she cast the night sight charm to see where she was going as she crawled into the forest.

After she'd gone a short way, Liane tripped on a loose stone and fell to the ground. Holding her tongue so-as not to swear out loud, she paused and listened for any clue that she'd been heard. The forest was silent, so Liane moved to push herself to her feet, but stopped when she saw something odd on the ground; a footprint, not of a human shoe, but of an animal paw.

Liane got up into a crouch, her wand held out in front of her. The forest all around her was silent, but she still started crawling backwards, her eyes roving from side to side. There was a cracking of dry branches under her foot, and a rustling of leaves from up ahead. Liane turned and ran, and behind her there was a sharp, barking noise, followed by a low, rumbling roar. When she broke through the treeline, Liane sped across the lawns back to her tree, grabbed her bag, and headed back inside. Once back in the Entrance Hall, she took several deep breaths, wiped the fine layer of sweat from her brow, and then headed down to the dungeons, not saying anything to anyone of where she'd been.


	15. Chapter 15: The Slug Snub

Chapter 15: The Slug Snub

The next day, still being the mid-semester break, Liane decided to take a rest from the high intensity of the Duellers and the Olympiad, and filled her book bag with apples and textbooks and carried it up to the library. Finding a quiet corner, out of the line of sight of Madam Pince, Liane pulled open her potions textbook and began to read, hoping to alleviate some of her dismal performances in at least one of her classes other than Charms or Defence. When after an hour she realised that she had read the same line four times, and she still couldn't remember whether it was pillbugs or dill beetles that were the key component to an animal voice potion, she put her book down and closed her eyes.

With a start and a feeling of immense shame, Liane felt a memory stir; the memory of her promising to write home to her parents. Five weeks on and she still had done nothing of the sort, so finding a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill (procured by Scorpius after a few too many requests to borrow ink, at the cost of a sickle) Liane began to write.

 _Dear Mum and Dad,_

 _I'm sorry it has been so long and I'm only just now writing, but it has been such a whirlwind of excitement, I've barely had time to think._

Liane bit her lip; it wasn't entirely a lie, but she was well aware that it had more to do with her not thinking of home since she'd arrived, than any lack of time.

 _First of all, I'm safe and happy, and I'm keeping up with all my schoolwork; I've even been moved to an advanced section for one of my classes, along with other students who are all performing massively above their grade level. Not everything is easy, but I'm trying my best. I've made some incredible new friends who have all made me feel right at home here, and I'm even joining clubs and extra lessons in my free time._

 _The biggest news is that Hogwarts, along with two other magical schools in Europe, are competing in a massive competition. Each school had to pick only five students for each year level, and I made it onto the first-year team! I'm good friends with the rest of the team, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing what the other schools have to offer._

 _One more thing; Dad, I've been wondering some more about our ancestry, the stories you were telling about nana Esme before I came to Hogwarts. Is there any chance that you could find some more books or research about it? There is something that happened that has made me think a little about what magic we might have in our history. Mum, if you can find anything about your side of the family as well, I'd appreciate it; I think I'll send a letter to Susan as well._

 _Missing you all heaps; you guys would love it here (Dad, you should see the library!)_

 _Much Love,_

 _Liane_

As she finished scrawling the letter, Liane heard a familiar voice from deeper in the shelves.

"So, are you going?"

"I don't know; I doubt it's going to be very entertaining."

"Maybe, maybe not. I'll bet it's a great place to make friends in the older years. Besides, I'll be there."

"Yeah…"

"Really? Still?"

"Look, it's not you, it's just...well, you know how it is."

"Yeah, I know."

Liane put her books and parchment aside and stood up, stretching. Peering through the shelves, Liane tried to see who was speaking; she thought she recognised the voices, but the two together were not something she expected. Walking around in the direction she'd heard the voices come from, Liane nearly ran straight into Scorpius as he came out of the stacks.

"Oh, hey," he said, fidgeting nervously, "what are you doing here?"

"Catching up on potions study and writing to my folks. You?" she asked.

"Uh, just looking for some books on free transfiguration for that paper we had to do for class," Scorpius replied. Liane raised an eyebrow.

"You mean the one we handed in the last week of term?" she asked.

"Yeah; I wanted to see if there was something I missed," Scorpius said, looking around.

"Huh. I thought I heard you talking to someone," Liane said, and Scorpius' eyes widened slightly.

"What? No, no, I mean, yeah, I asked, uh, another students, an older student, what to look for…" he stumbled.

"Really? Because it sounded like Albus, but that couldn't be," Liane said with a smile.

"No, definitely...definitely not," Scorpius said. He straightened up and the nervousness seemed to dissolve. "You should know better," he said coolly.

Liane threw up her hands. "Hey, just saying what it sounded like. I'll leave you to it," she said turning away.

"No, Liane, wait, I'm sorry; my mind is just on other things. I can't decide if I'm going to go," Scorpius said.

"Go to what?" Liane asked, and Scorpius suddenly looked nervous again.

"Y- you mean, you didn't get one?" he asked.

"Get what?" Liane asked.

"Why wouldn't you get one, it doesn't make any sense…" Scorpius asked.

"Scorpius, tell me what on earth you're talking about before I hex you."

Scorpius reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of card with silver edging. Liane took it from him and looked at the writing.

 _Dear Mister Scorpius Malfoy, of Slytherin House and the Most Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy,_

 _You are cordially invited to attend a small gathering of the Hogwarts elite at the first dinner for the much famed and prestigious Slug Club. As you may be aware, each year students of a certain calibre are invited to be a part of this magnificent community of the best and brightest; those students who are expected to have an illustrious future ahead of them, to give them an opportunity to get to know one another and help create the relationships that will benefit you for years to come._

 _The dinner will take place in the Prefects meeting room on the fourth floor of the South Tower on Wednesday evening at seven o'clock, and will be expected to conclude at nine-thirty._

 _Yours Sincerely,_

 _Professor Horace Slughorn_

Liane read over the card a couple of times, taking in every word, before she silently handed it back.

"Well," she said at last, "congratulations. It sounds like a great honour."

Scorpius looked at her nervously, and Liane had to look away, feeling her eyes begin to sting.

"Liane, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Really. You should go; it sounds like it would be really good," she replied.

"Really? You don't think it all sounds a bit…stuck-up?" Scorpius asked.

"No, well, I mean, maybe, but I'm sure you'll thank yourself for it later. I have to go," Liane said, turning around and running back to her bag. Forcing her book and paper into the bag, leaving a half-eaten apple on the ground, she rushed out of the library, ignoring the harsh glare from Madam Pince as she made her way to the girls bathrooms nearest the library. Hiding herself away within a stall, Liane let the tears begin to flow, and she sat there, sobbing quietly. Each time she thought that she was beginning to calm down, she remembered the card, felt another wave of sadness wash over her, and the tears began again.

She did not know how long she had sat there, sitting on top of the toilet seat cover with her knees drawn up to her head, her tears soaking into the knees of her robes. By the time she felt her tear ducts had given everything they could, Liane still didn't want to see anyone, so she cleaned herself up as best as she was able and listened carefully to ensure the bathroom was clear of anyone, before creeping out. All she wanted to do was get outside and hide beneath her tree, but the majority of the castle was between her and the main doors out to the south. So instead, Liane turned right up the corridor near the staircase and began to head North.

First years only used the north end of the castle for two classes; Defence, which was only ever on the ground floor, and Astronomy, which had been amalgamated into one part muggle studies, one part years third and up divination; and they wouldn't start those classes until just before Christmas, during the Solstice. Anything higher than the defence auditorium or lower than the astronomy tower was foreign ground to the first years, and so Liane went exploring, hoping to stumble upon something interesting enough to distract her from her mood.

After a long corridor of classroom after classroom, Liane found herself at an area of the castle she'd never seen before; an open section on the floor below her filled with garden plants and trees, ringed by balconies all around on the two floors above it, along with wide, open staircases that allowed someone on the sixth or seventh floors access to the gardens. Stepping out onto the balcony, Liane looked up at the gloomy grey Scottish sky, and she pulled her robes tighter around her to keep out the cool breeze. There was tables and chairs all around the balcony, looking for all the world like the outdoors seating area for some upmarket cafe, and Liane could see similar set-ups around on the other balcony.

"Is miss here to dine?" came a voice from behind her, and Liane turned to see a small, wiry figure with pointed features, looking almost like a goblin that had been squeezed by a giant hand. It was dressed in a patchwork of tea-towels that had been pegged together into the rough shape of a suit, and a napkin had been folded up and stuffed down its front like a cravat.

"Uh," Liane murmured, and the creature nodded.

"Ah, but miss is new; I am Fleming, and Fleming a house elf. Fleming provides the students of Hogwarts with whatever they need, for only a modest price," the house elf said with a bow. Liane's eyes narrowed.

"What sort of price?" she asked.

"Nothing a Hogwarts student cannot pay; Fleming has occasions for wizard magic where elf magic cannot help. Fleming promises service in return for service; miss will provide Fleming with assistance when Fleming asks, and Fleming will provide miss with whatever she desires," he replied.

Liane looked down at the little creature appraisingly.

"I can promise to provide services of a level equal to but no greater than whatever I ask for, and _I_ get to decide what goes too far?" she asked.

Fleming grimaced.

"Fleming can agree to such terms, but only if Fleming can refuse to procure for miss anything too difficult unless she changes her mind," he replied.

Liane shrugged. "Would a peppermint tea be too much trouble?" she asked.

Fleming straightened up once more. "This can be arranged. Does miss agree to the terms?"

"I do; please Fleming, may I have a peppermint tea, and in return I agree to do a small magical favour for you," Liane replied, and with a crack the little elf vanished.

Liane took a seat and placed her bag on a table, pulling out another apple and her potions book. The weather was cool but not too cold, and it was dry and still, so Liane felt comfortable sitting back to read, Fleming appearing a few moments later and setting down a fine china cup and saucer by Liane's bag, along with a teapot that filled the air with a smell of sweet peppermint.

"Will that be all miss requires for today?" Fleming asked.

"Yes, thank you; oh, and please, call me Liane," Liane replied.

Fleming nodded. "Miss is most kind, but there are standards to be met. If you need anything further, simply touch your wand to the centre of the table," he replied, before vanishing once more.

Liane finished re-reading her potions book and had moved on to a recommended text when she heard some movement down below, in the gardens. Looking down, she saw Jeremy and a girl Liane felt she ought to know the name of but couldn't quite place, walking together and talking. Liane tried to pay them no mind, but she still found herself looking down every so often, seeing them first sit together on a bench beneath an elm tree, and then saw them kiss. It was a comfortable, casual kiss, one that lingered for a moment but broke shortly thereafter, one that Liane could only attribute to a relationship that had already stabilised beyond the high-energy buzz of a new romance, leading Liane to assume the girl must have been Jeremy's girlfriend. When next she looked down, she saw the girl was leaving, and Jeremy was staring after her, grinning brightly. As soon as the other girl was gone, Jeremy looked up, at first towards the sky but then quickly noticing Liane and waving. Embarrassed, Liane waved back, and she felt her cheeks turn red as Jeremy got up and made his way to the staircase leading up to her balcony.

"Hi there," Jeremy said as he appeared over the edge of the stairwell.

"Hi; sorry, I wasn't trying to pry," Liane stammered, but Jeremy waved a hand dismissively.

"It's okay, I don't mind, and I doubt Susanna does either," he replied. Finally, with the name, the face triggered.

"Oh, was that Samantha's sister?" Liane asked.

"Yeah; she and I have been dating since I was in third year, she was in second. We were just talking about what we're wearing on Wednesday," he explained.

Liane sank into her chair. "Oh, so you're going to, huh?" she asked, feeling hollow.

"Yeah; well, between Dad's position in the ministry, and Susanna's place on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and both of us getting onto the Hogwarts Olympiad teams, it made sense for Slughorn to invite us. I take it we'll see you there?" he asked.

"Only if I crash; I wasn't invited," Liane replied.

Jeremy frowned. "Oh. He must not be inviting first years this year then," he said.

"Nope, because I found out about it from Scorpius," Liane said coolly.

"I don't know what to say, Liane; I really expected you to be there," Jeremy said.

"It's okay, really. I'm fine," Liane replied, looking out over the gardens.

Jeremy drew his wand and tapped it to the small disc in the centre of the table, and Fleming appeared with a crack.

"Master Price, a pleasure as always," the house elf said, bowing low.

"Hello Fleming; a piece of chocolate cake and a latte, if that's alright," Jeremy asked.

"Of course, sir, right away," the house elf replied, before disappearing again.

"So how long has this place been here?" Liane asked as Jeremy put his wand away.

"A few years; a student who has since graduated set it up with Fleming, who normally works down in the kitchens. I'm not sure if the teachers or Filch know what's going on, but Fleming only ever responds to student wands, apparently, and none of the staff ever come around here. Even the gardens are tended by the house elves under Fleming's direction," Jeremy explained, his cake and coffee appearing shortly thereafter, brought by Fleming and another house elf in a mismatch of discarded clothing.

"Hello Tabby," Jeremy said to the little elf, which Liane noticed with mild surprise was female. The little elf squeaked and curtsied, and after Jeremy and Liane reassured Fleming they had no other requirements, the two of them disappeared.

"I take it you come here at lot?" Liane asked, "if you know the elves by name."

"Well, once or twice a week, if I'm studying or if Susanna and I want to have a private meal together, but that's not how I know Tabby. She used to be our family's elf, until Jessica tried to get her to play dress-ups and accidentally fired her."

Liane blinked. "What?" she asked.

"Oh, right, you might not know; house elves bond themselves to servitude with a wizarding family, some kind of magical geas placed on the entire species or something. Whatever the reason, they can only be freed from servitude by being given clothing; not merely covering, but anything that was created with the express purpose of being clothes. Give a house elf a pillowcase to wear, they're good, but give them a mitten, and they're freed. Most old magical families will have one or two," Jeremy explained.

"What, like slaves?" Liane asked with distaste.

"Well, it's a little complicated. People have tried forcing freedom on the elves, and many of them don't know how to cope with it. Some of them revel in it though, so it's become commonplace to ask a house elf each year on the anniversary of its bonding to a family whether it wants to remain in its position or be presented with clothing. And, the Granger-Weasley/Scamander bill for the Protection of Magical Creatures means that any family with a house elf has to make sure they're comfortable and well looked after," Jeremy explained.

"And so Jessica let Tabby go by trying to make her dress up?" Liane asked.

"Yeah; and let's just say, Tabby was not happy. The Dobby policy at Hogwarts meant she was able to get work here at Hogwarts as a free elf, but not too many other places are available for elves that are freed by accident. I think she likes seeing me, as she usually turns up with Fleming if there's ever more than one thing in my order," Jeremy said.

"Hence the chocolate cake," Liane said with a nod, "you were giving your old elf something to do that meant she could come and see you."

"Well, that and I like cake," Jeremy said with a smile.

"So there's actually a lot of stuff happening in the background, then," Liane said, "like elvish welfare and stuff."

"You bet; if there's a muggle job, there's usually a magical equivalent and then some. Take me for example, what do you think I'm going to do when I get out of Hogwarts?" Jeremy asked.

Liane shrugged. "I don't know; you're a Dueller and you're in the Olympiad, so an auror maybe?" she asked.

"Nope; I plan on going and studying at the Woezik Academy in Wolfheze, Netherlands, where they run a special program that looks at interspecies reproduction, trying to discover why some half-breeds like half-giants or half-veela can exist, but others like half-goblins almost always fail to produce a child," Jeremy replied.

"Wow, that sounds...Really complicated. So there are magical sciences as well, not just what we learn in Muggle Studies?" Liane asked.

"Indeed; there's a class O.W.L completed students can take instead of continuing with Muggle Studies in years six and seven for Magical Sciences, where you combine the knowledge you have from Muggle Studies with the rest of your classes, which I'm really looking forward to," Jeremy said.

"It does sound interesting," Liane replied, "too bad my Muggle Studies scores are pretty poor."

"Hey, you've got plenty of time," Jeremy said, taking another bite of his cake.

"So, change of topic; any chance I can find out what the event is for Duellers next week?" Liane asked.

"You'll have to wait and find out like everyone else; still, I'll give you a clue. It was inspired somewhat by the qualifiers," Jeremy replied.

"That's not exactly helpful," Liane said with a huff.

"I wasn't trying to be helpful," Jeremy said with a wicked grin, "I was trying to get you excited."

"Does frustrated count?"

"Good enough."

Liane laughed, before pulling her watch out of her bag and having a look at the time.

"Am I keeping you from something?" Jeremy asked.

"No, not at all; I was just wondering," Liane said, putting the watch away, well aware that it was long after lunch time, and no-one had seen her since Scorpius had found her in the library that morning. Nevertheless, Liane sat back, and she and Jeremy continued to talk for another hour or so. When he left, Liane ordered a sandwich and a chocolate milk from Fleming, and sat and read for another few hours after that, only packing up when the sky began to get dark.

When Liane got back down to the Great Hall for dinner, she found some of her friends huddling at the Ravenclaw table. As she moved over towards them, Yvette spotted her and her eyes widened.

"Liane! There you are; we were all worried. Where have you been?" she asked.

"I was just off doing some Potions study, it's no big deal," Liane replied.

"You still should have told someone where you were," Remy said disapprovingly, "especially after Scorpius told us you'd run off on him."

"What are you, my mother? I wanted to be alone," Liane snapped.

Yvette shrunk back at the same time Remy grabbed Liane's shoulder.

"Hey! Listen; we may not be your mother but we still get worried about you. When Scorpius explained what happened-"

"Scorpius has no idea what he's talking about," Liane growled sullenly.

"Liane," Bertie said softly, "there was another attack."

Liane looked up at Bertie, her eyes wide.

"Who?" she asked.

"Hannah," Remy replied.

Liane felt her stomach drop, and her skin began to feel cold.

"What happened?" she asked.

"No one knows; Sam Rosenberg found her near the Room of Requirement, her chest had been slashed open like Price, and she'd lost a lot of blood. She's in the Hospital Wing at the moment, but they're moving her to St. Mungo's," Remy explained.

"When we found out you'd run off from the library, nearby, we got worried," Yvette said quietly.

"I...I'm sorry, I had no idea. I really am fine," Liane said, turning a pained smile to Yvette, "are they letting people visit her?"

Bertie shook his head.

"No; she still hasn't regained consciousness," he replied.

Liane sat down heavily, her stomach churning over.

"Liane; are you...sure you're okay?" Remy asked.

"I'm- I'm fine, really, I'm just worried," she said quietly.

"You're sure? Because if you want to talk-"

"I'm fine!" Liane snapped.

Everyone lapsed into silence as Liane bristled, tears staining her eyes once more.

"No, you're not. It's okay; if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to," Remy said quietly.

"Look, really, I'm...I'm upset, sure, but I'm not...I don't care, not really. I'm far more concerned about Hannah," Liane replied, but the tears in her eyes weren't easily hidden.

Still, the others stopped questioning her, and conversation instead turned to discussing what the teachers were doing to find out who was attacking students.

"Jessica, Liane, now Hannah; it's clear that whoever is behind it all is only attacking Slytherin girls," Bertie said.

"In fairness, I went after it," Liane replied.

"True, but then you did say whoever it was had assisted Jessica in her attack on you. Has anyone spoken to her about it yet?" Bertie asked.

"No; we're the only ones who know what happened to me, and I'm not talking to her now that she's actually leaving me alone. But…" Liane said.

"But what?" Remy asked.

"But, I did talk for some time today with Jeremy. I think if I explained to him what had happened, I might be able to get him to talk to her," Liane explained.

"You should do that," Yvette said, nodding, "he might be able to find out what's going on."

"I hope so; meanwhile, you missed something before, Bertie, the victims aren't just Slytherin and female, but they're first-years as well. Whoever it is, they've got a very distinctive pattern, and we might be able to use that to our advantage," Liane said.

"How do you mean?" Remy asked.

"Well, it means that there are only eleven possible targets, and three have already been attacked. The last eight can be monitored for any suspicious activity around them," Liane explained.

"How do you intend to do that?" Bertie asked.

"I've read about a spell, similar to the wards that protect Hogwarts, that marks people with a small amount of magic and then sounds an alarm when they get hurt," Liane explained.

"What spell?" Yvette asked, frowning, "I've never heard of anything like that."

"Can you cast it?" Bertie asked.

"No, not even close. But I think I know who can," Liane said, "Mietta."

"Charms assistant, it makes sense," Remy said, "but that brings up another issue; how will a Ravenclaw seventh-year get into the Slytherin dorms? They're warded against that sort of thing; pretty much the same way the spell you're describing."

"True. The answer is in here," Liane said, drawing a book from her bag and placing it on the table.

Remy raised an eyebrow. "The Potter bio? What's in there that can help?" they asked.

"In his second year, Harry and Ron got into the Slytherin common room to question Draco Malfoy about the Heir of Slytherin. By polyjuicing themselves into Slytherins Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle," Liane explained.

"So, what, we brew a potion-an incredibly difficult, incredibly advanced potion, that takes two months to brew-and convince a seventh-year student teacher to take it and creep into another House's dorms, cast a high-level spell that will interfere with the wards, and then...what? Run to the aid of any Slytherin girl who gets attacked?" Remy asked.

"Well, when you put it like that…" Liane said.

"No, I like the idea; I'm just wondering if you've considered the effort involved? Who's going to make the potion? You?" Remy asked.

"Oh, no, not if we don't want to poison Mietta," Liane said, pulling a face.

"Well, of the four of us, _collectively_ we're scraping a decent score in Potions. We could get Albus to help, but even then, I doubt it's likely we can do it ourselves," Bertie said.

"And where do we make it?" Remy asked, "where do we have privacy to stew the ingredients for two months?"

"What about…" Yvette began.

"What about what?" Liane asked.

"Well, I was just thinking; we _do_ know someone who has the skills in potions making to make it," Yvette said slowly.

"Who?"

"Wesley," she explained.

"Wes _Pascall_?" Bertie asked.

"He does have the marks," Remy mused.

"I doubt he's going to do me any favours," Liane said, "not after I embarrassed him and his sister twice in the qualifiers."

"So, you don't ask; I could talk to him. He and Erica are friends with Jessica, so if I explain that it's about finding out who hurt her, he might be up for it," Yvette explained.

"That might be best. As for where we can make it; I was thinking we do the same thing the others did way back then," Liane said, tapping the biography.

"The second-floor girls bathroom? Hasn't that one been completely boarded up?" Yvette asked.

"Exactly; it would be easy enough for us to get in, and no-one will come looking in there at any point to stumble upon us as we work," Liane said.

"Well, it's worth looking into, I guess," Remy said, "Yvette, could you talk to Wes tonight?"

Yvette nodded.

"And we're going to need a few specialty ingredients, like boomslang skin. I'll ask Scorpius if he can convince Slughorn to let him at the private stores," Liane said.

"Probably best not to involve too many others," Remy said, "I'll talk to Slughorn myself, on Wednesday night."

They suddenly clapped a hand to their mouth and turned wide eyes to Liane as she stiffened.

"So, you're going on Wednesday night as well?" Liane asked.

Remy looked to Bertie, and then Yvette.

"You're _all_ going?" Liane asked.

"We- we weren't going to say anything," Yvette said quietly.

Liane's face shut down, becoming expressionless.

"No, it's fine. You two are the children of well respected professors and you're the top transfiguration student in the year, it makes sense that you have bright futures ahead of you…" Liane said in a quiet voice.

"Listen, I'm sure it's a mistake, I'm certain there'll be an invite in your dorm…" Bertie said.

"Yeah. Maybe," Liane said, poking her fork at a piece of turkey on her plate, "look, I'm not too hungry. I'm going to go and find the book with that spell in it so we can talk to Mietta. I'll see you guys later."

"Liane, wait," Remy said, standing up.

"Look, I…I'd rather just be alone," she said.

Remy shook their head. "Sorry, but no can do; it's not safe. I'll come with, even if I have to stay silent," they said.

"Ha," Liane huffed, "good luck with that," she said.

"Shut up," Remy replied, climbing over the bench.

Liane shrugged, waved goodbye to the others, and began to walk, Remy stepping in beside her. They made their way in silence down the stairs into the dungeons, but when they approached the tunnel that led to the Slytherin common room, Liane slumped against the wall, dropping to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Liane! Are you alright?" Remy asked with a shout, dropping down beside her.

Liane didn't say anything, unable to verablise her distress as the sobs started up again.

Remy pivoted on their heel, dropping to the ground beside Liane and wrapping an arm around her.

After a moment, Liane caught her breath. "I don't get it. What more do I have to do?" she asked.

"I don't know; it doesn't make sense. I'm sure Bertie's right, I'm sure it's just an oversight," Remy said, pulling Liane in tight.

"It just, it feels like I'm being told, being told I'm not good enough. Like I don't _have_ a future like the rest of you," she sobbed.

"Hey, listen," Remy hushed, "you are fantastic, you have to know that. If the Slug can't see that, it's his loss."

Liane wiped her eyes and smiled. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Remy got to their feet and held out a hand. "Come on, let's get going; we can look for that spell and you can take your mind off of all this," they said, and Liane took their hand and they helped her up. Together they walked back to the common room, and Liane went and fetched her books, carrying a huge stack back out to the study lounge and handing one off the top to Remy. The two of them sat down together and began to skim through the books, searching for the spell.

Much later that evening, when everyone else had trickled in and then back out, heading off to bed, Liane sat alone with the last few books in the pile. Remy had tried their best, but had gone to sleep over one of the books, and Liane had forced them to go to bed. As the night grew on, nearing midnight, Liane started at a noise up above. Rubbing her eyes, weary from reading in the dim silver light, Liane looked up at the staircases on either side of the study lounge to see where the noise had come from, and saw Professor Slughorn wandering down into the common room.

"Professor?" Liane called out, and Slughorn jumped, startled.

"Good gracious; miss Langford, what are you doing up so late? Get off to bed," he huffed, and Liane nodded.

"I will shortly, Professor, I'm just finishing off some reading," she said, nodding her head towards the large stack of books beside her.

"You read all that?" he asked, a note of surprise in his voice.

"Yeah; not all today, mind, I've just been trying to locate a chapter I can remember reading but can't remember where. Um, Professor," Liane asked, closing her book, "I was wondering if I could ask you something."

Slughorn looked mildly irritated, but he did his best to give Liane his attention.

"If it's short," he replied.

"Well, I wanted to ask- I mean, you sent out invitations to students to join the Slug club, and I wanted to know- well, I mean, why is it that I didn't get one?" she asked, feeling awkward as she phrased it.

"Well, I am sorry, miss Langford, but the club is very...select about those invited. It takes a very particular kind of student to be part of the Slug Club," he replied.

"It's just...I mean, I have the highest marks in Charms _and_ Defence, I'm on the Hogwarts Olympiad squad where I got top marks, I got awarded Most Dangerous in Duellers; I guess I just don't quite know what it is that you're looking for-" Liane rambled.

"Miss Langford, I deeply apologise if I've made you feel upset. The fact is, the Slug Club is not about marks, although they help; it's about forging a future. Yvette Delacroix, for example, has very few of the same academic results as you, however she _does_ have networks with high scoring students in Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. Her father works with the Department of Magical Foreign Affairs, and her mother is a Charms mistress of the highest order. Her future, regardless of her marks, is one that will catapult her to great things, prestigious and powerful people and places.

"You, miss Langford, come from far more...humble origins. You have shown yourself to be a more than capable fighter, but this makes you enemies as well as allies. You're a divisive figure, and, I'm sorry to say, something of a thug. There were many people who were concerned, for example, when you appeared at the end of the Olympiad qualifiers with a sword and shield, covered in burns and scrapes, looking for all the school like you'd fought in a war, not completed a school competition. You escalate, where others would acquiesce. For those reasons, I did not think the Slug Club would be an appropriate place for someone like you," Professor Slughorn explained.

Liane felt like she'd been punched in the gut, but instead of feeling upset, she felt her blood run cold. Her wand, pressed against her side from its pocket in her robes, felt warm, and her teeth clenched tight.

"Thank you, Professor," she said in a low, even voice, "I'm glad you were able to explain it to me."

"Again, miss Langford, I had no intention of causing you distress," the professor said.

"No, it's fine, professor; I'm fine. I'm just glad I know," she said, standing up, "I think it's passed time I went to bed."

"Yes, yes of course," Professor Slughorn said, standing aside to let Liane move back towards the first year dorms.

As Liane changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed, her mind was clear, her every movement on autopilot. When her head hit the pillow, she hear the one word that had stood out to her ringing in her ears.

"A thug," she murmured to herself.

 _A thug_. Because she dared to be good at fighting. Because she was born to a squib; perhaps to two, if her father's stories were true. Because she had made enemies with the likes of Jessica Price or the Pascalls.

Liane rolled over, her eyes on the window that showed the moonlight filtering down through the lake.

"If only he knew," she muttered, "he'd regret calling a possible Heir of Slytherin a common thug."

Liane's eyes closed, and she was beset by dreams; dreams of giant snakes that coiled around her, lifted her, standing, into the air. Spined and fanged serpents the size of busses, bursting from the earth and laying waste to wherever she pointed her wand. Dreams of scores of people, their faces turned to the ground as she towered over them, no-one daring to look up, should they meet the gaze of the beast she rode.

Liane's eyes flew open, the dream still lingering in her memory. Strangely, she felt calm, unperturbed by the visions, which on reflection did bother her a little. Still, her eyes drooped closed once more, and she slept a dreamless sleep.


	16. Chapter 16: Plans

Chapter 16: Plans

Liane was heading back to the castle after her run the next morning when she found Yvette waiting for her, shivering in the cold.

"Hey," Liane said, slowing down, "what's up?"

"I thought I'd catch you out here; I spoke with Wesley and Mietta last night about your plan. Mietta said she would speak with you, and Wesley said if we can provide the ingredients he'll make the potion," Yvette said through chattering teeth.

"Excellent. You didn't have any trouble with convincing him?" Liane asked.

"He wasn't terribly happy when I told him you were involved, but he agreed when I reminded him that Jessica had been targeted," Yvette replied.

"I figured. Go on inside, you're freezing; I think I'll do another lap," Liane said, and Yvette nodded, heading back towards the castle while Liane turned back down to the path.

As she ran, she started to think about what she was going to say to Mietta to convince her to assist, but every time she pictured herself speaking, it always came out in her mind as parseltongue.

"What on earth is happening?" Liane grumbled to herself, coming to a stop halfway around the lake, the castle in the distance. Looking around, checking that there was no-one within sight, Liane strayed off the path and into the forest, going about a hundred metres in until the trees completely blocked her off from the castle.

" _Hello?_ " she hissed, " _is there anyone there_?"

There was a moment of silence as Liane stood alone in the forest, listening for any sign of movement. After a little while, heralded by a hissing sound by her shoulder, Liane found a small green tree snake bobbing from a branch by her head.

" _Yes mistress?_ " it asked.

" _I have questions about the snake speech. Who can I speak to?_ " she asked.

The tree snake bobbed its head.

" _The eldest of us is the great Scitalis, deep in the forest. Follow_ ," the tree snake hissed, before coiling down the trunk of the tree and dropping into the grass. Liane walked after the little green creature, trying hard to follow its movements through the grass.

The trees grew thicker, the forest denser the further in Liane pushed, and she drew her wand to try and cut her way through, stripping branches away where it was thickest. The canopy overhead blotted out the morning sunlight, and the forest floor grew darker, making it more difficult for Liane to see the little green snake she was trying to follow.

" _Wait!_ " Liane called out, but the little snake had vanished into the underbrush.

"Damn," she said to herself, slashing her wand at another branch. At first she wasn't sure what had happened; as the branch fell there was a glitter of brilliant light, twinkling like crystal. She froze, staring at the glittering rainbow, watching the shimmer of light bouncing around her like a wave of colour.

"What is…" she murmured, before the leaves moved aside and Liane saw, drifting gracefully and gradually towards her, a giant, diamond-shaped head. From the tip of its nose to the back of its jaw, the head was almost as tall as Liane, and its slitted eyes were fixed on her as it drifted closer. She could feel heat radiating off the creature's skin, and beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.

" _What have you done to me?_ " Liane asked, and the head stopped moving.

" _You speak with a forked tongue_ ," the Scitalis replied, surprised, " _I heard of your presence at the school, but did not think I would see you._ "

" _I needed to speak with someone who knew about the serpent speech. I have fears that it is twisting my mind,_ " Liane replied. The Scitalis nodded.

" _I have known speakers past; what fears plague you_?" it asked.

" _First free me from this glamour_ ," Liane hissed.

" _It is not something done by will; unless you are used to it, it will remain for as long as I do,_ " the creature replied.

Liane frowned, but nodded anyway.

" _I see, in dreams, an army of snakes. Giant creatures larger even than you, destroying all who stand in my way,_ " Liane told the Scitalis.

" _You see the Basilisks, the beasts of Salazar. That piece you hold in your hand, the eye of the beast, that is what speaks to you; the forked tongue only allows you to hear it,_ " the Scitalis replied.

Liane looked down at her wand.

" _These dreams; are they real_?" she asked.

" _They show what can be; a power within your grasp. Someday. The dreams will continue, unless you learn to hold them out,_ " the creature replied.

" _How do I do that_?" Liane asked.

" _There is much I may teach, but the skill of dreams, like the skill of mental protections, is human magic. Still, as did the Heirs before you, so shall I tell you that which I can, should you wish to hear it,_ " the Scitalis replied.

" _I would be honoured. May I return?_ " Liane asked, and the creature nodded.

" _Your obligations as a student should not be ignored; skills such as those we have spoken of are not to be taken lightly. Go, Heir of Salazar, and I await your return_ ," the Scitalis said, before it turned away and began to slowly disappear into the undergrowth. Only once the last glitter of crystalline light faded away did Liane begin to feel like she could move again, and she quickly pushed her way out of the forest. All the while, she held tightly to her wand, as though she could will it to speak with her. But she heard nothing, and when she made it back to the path it was already well after breakfast, so Liane doubled back down the path and headed back to the castle.

When Liane had showered, changed and helped herself to a light breakfast, she, Yvette and Remy set about removing the boards from the door to the second-floor girls bathroom, carefully shearing through the nails and replacing them with a removable adhesive potion that meant the door would remain stuck fast by anyone trying to open it without the correct solvent.

Inside the bathroom was rank, decades of mildew and mould covering the surfaces of the sinks and stalls; so thick that even _scourgify_ wouldn't do the job alone, forcing the three of them to begin drying out and incinerating the mould, scourging the stains away when they were done. In the end, the room was clean, if still somewhat dilapidated and rundown. Remy cleared a space in a stall to build a stand for a cauldron and began fireproofing the floor, creating an area where they could begin to brew the polyjuice.

"Right; that was the easy bit. Liane, have you spoken with Mietta yet?" Remy asked.

"No, not yet," Liane replied.

"Well, you'd better get on that; no sense in getting Wesley up here with a cauldron if we have no-one to cast the spell when we're done," Remy said, stretching and rubbing their shoulder.

"True; and you're right to talk to Slughorn tomorrow night?" Liane asked, fiddling with the faucets to see if there was any running water.

"Yeah, no problem," Remy said with a nod.

"Alright, I'll see if I can find Mietta. I'll see you guys later," Liane said, twisting the taps back to the tightened position, her fingers grazing over a piece of graffiti scored into the metalwork. Poking her head out the door, Liane looked around to ensure it there was no-one within sight as she slipped out into the second-floor corridor. Heading down the stairs, Liane found a useable bathroom to wash her hands in, before heading to the Great Hall.

As she entered Liane looked around for someone who could tell her where Mietta was, she saw Lion and Tania sitting at the Gryffindor table. She was about to shout out to them, but stopped; Liane realised suddenly that although she had been training with them for over two weeks now, she'd actually never really spoken to Lion before, and even Tania she'd only interacted with during the boat event. Instead she walked over to them and quietly cleared her throat.

"Um, excuse me, Lion? Tania?" Liane asked, unsure of how to proceed. Lion turned and looked at her, a note of confusion on his face.

"Hi there Liane," Tania said, and recognition dawned on Lion's face.

"Oh, right, the little Slytherin spitfire; how's it going?" he asked.

"Good, thanks. I'm sorry to bother you, I was looking for Mietta Scalieri; would you happen to know where she is?" Liane asked.

Lion looked at Tania. "I think she's with Caitlyn, they're having afternoon tea," he said slowly.

"This afternoon tea," Liane said, looking around, "it wouldn't happen to be over a garden would it?"

Lion smiled. "Yeah. You know where to go then?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do; thanks," Liane replied, giving the two of them a wave.

"All good; I'd uh, recommend letting her know you're nearby and then wait for her to come to you," Lion said.

Liane frowned. "Oh, okay, sure; thanks," she said, before leaving the two of them behind and heading up to the fifth floor, turning off north to try and find Fleming's Garden once again.

She located the garden after a short period spent wandering around, the corridors having looped back on themselves at some point since the previous day and turning Liane completely around more than once. When she arrived she stopped, taking a moment to catch her breath, before looking up at the balconies to try and spot Mietta. She eventually spotted her up on the seventh floor, her back to the railing sitting side-by-side with another girl. Liane paused for a moment as she realised, looking up at the two of them, why Lion had recommended she not simply go straight to Mietta and interrupt. Instead she began to climb up the external staircases to the balcony the girls were seated on, taking a seat at an empty table and touching her wand to the middle of the table. Fleming appeared with a crack, and Liane saw Mietta glance towards her at the sound.

"Yes, miss?" Fleming asked.

"Hi there, Fleming; just another pot of tea if that's alright," Liane requested, nodding towards Mietta.

"Of course, miss," Fleming replied with a bow, vanishing again.

Once she was sure Mietta had seen her Liane moved around the table until she was facing away from the two seventh-years, allowing them some privacy, and drew out her borrowed library copy of _Remaking Hogwarts: Explorations of Founder Magic_ , the book she'd eventually determined was the origins of the ward spell she had found, among dozens of other spells of such phenomenal complexity that Liane was having difficulty even understanding the descriptions of some of them. She was just finishing up a section on creating hallways with only one open end, causing anyone walking down them in a straight line to come back out into the same place they went in, without ever turning around, when the other girl, Caitlyn, moved passed Liane's table and Mietta sat down across from her.

"Hi," Liane said, closing the book.

Mietta didn't look pleased. "Yvette came and spoke with me last night; she mentioned you were looking at getting my help with casting a ward on the Slytherin girls dorms. You would know that as a member of Ravenclaw house I would not be able to get into the Slytherin common rooms, so I can only assume you have some kind of plan. Out with it," she said sternly.

Liane paused, looking Mietta in the eye.

"I do have a plan; one that I know can succeed. But it involves breaking a whole bunch of school rules. Do I have your word that you won't say anything to any teachers, even if you decide you don't want to go ahead with it?" Liane asked.

Mietta glared. "Liane, what are you planning?"

"I'm sorry; this is important, I need you to promise," Liane replied.

After a moment, Mietta nodded. "Okay, I promise not to say anything."

"Good, thank you," Liane said, "so, we're needing to get you passed the wards. It's been done before...by Harry Potter."

Mietta frowned for a moment, then her eyes went wide in realisation. "You're making a polyjuice potion? Liane, how are you-?"

"Wes Pascall is making it, Remy is procuring the more difficult ingredients," Liane explained.

"How did you get Wesley Pascall to make anything for you?" Mietta asked.

Liane smiled. "Yvette convinced him; when he heard that it was to try and help catch whoever is attacking the first year Slytherin girls, his friend Jessica included, he begrudgingly agreed."

Mietta leaned back, looking at Liane appraisingly.

"You've really thought this through, huh?" she said, "okay, say I go along with this; what is it that you're actually wanting me to do?"

Liane opened her book at the bookmark she had placed there earlier, spinning it around to show Mietta. The other girl looked down at the book.

" _Area Mali Periculo Monitionem_ \- the zone of warning against harm or danger. This ward produces an area of effect, figure a, within which any living creature is marked invisibly with a magical resonance, figure b. Should any target be affected by anything that seriously harms them, or if any target believes themselves to be in fear for their lives, the focussing object, figure c, will release a sound that both alerts the holder to the danger and directs them to the target.

"Wow, Liane this is...really difficult. This isn't even N.E.W.T level; where did you get this book?" Mietta asked.

"The charms shelves in the library; I've been taking out random books every week, familiarising myself with as many spells as I can, even if I can't cast them. I figure it wasn't in the restricted section because there's nothing in there that can cause any direct harm," Liane explained.

"What do you mean 'direct' harm?" Mietta asked.

Liane grinned again. "Clearly this book was not written by a Slytherin," she said, "that's all I'm saying."

"Okay; I think I _might_ be able to learn this in the two months it takes to brew a polyjuice potion-and I stress, _might_ -but you have to remember that I'm also having to prepare for the first event in November, and the Duellers event next week; which, I might add, you should be as well," Mietta said sternly.

Liane nodded. "I've been training," she replied, "I'll be ready."

"Okay; so in light of that, I'm not promising that I will help you, but I will try to master this spell. Meanwhile, I want you to leave the brewing of the potion up to Yvette and Wesley; you and Remy need to keep your noses clean, have you got that?" Mietta said.

Liane paused; she certainly didn't want to leave Yvette hanging out to dry if anything happened, and there was no way Wesley would take the blame without sharing it around. She would need to come up some some kind of alternative.

"Deal," Liane said aloud, holding out her hand for Mietta to shake, "you should get that book signed back out into your name, too; it would be a shame if everything blew up in our faces because Madam Pince started hounding me."

"True," Mietta said, reaching out to shake Liane's hand. As she looked down at the book, Mietta bit her lip.

"Liane?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Just...one question. Why come to me? Why wouldn't Yvette just go to her mother? As a member of staff she could go in without needing a polyjuice, she would be far better suited to learning a spell like this, and the focussing object could be held by a teacher, far more suitable for rushing to the aid of someone being attacked," Mietta asked.

"I did actually think of that, although admittedly not until early this morning after Yvette had already spoken to you and Wes. In any case, I prefer it this way; whoever this person is, they've shown themselves, as well as being resourceful and vicious, as being almost invisible; whenever it begins to look like, such as well Jess was attacked and Wanda stumbled in, someone strong is near, they vanish.

"But they don't fear the power of a first year; when I tried to duel them a month ago, they were more than willing to let me engage them. And I'm a lot stronger now than I was then, and in two months time I expect to be stronger still; I can _and will_ take this monster down, for what they did to me, to Hannah, even to Jess," Liane explained.

"So your plan is to use their arrogance against them by trusting that by the time we're ready to cast this spell and it triggers a reaction you'll be strong enough to ensure that their estimation of you is under the mark, am I right? I'm sorry, but is that not a little...foolishly ironic?" Mietta asked.

Liane shrugged. "Maybe. But after three attacks, two of which resulted in St. Mungo's stays, and Hogwarts doing nothing, I can't just sit by," she said, "I have to do something. And as complicated and dangerous and completely against school rules as this plan is, it's the best one I can think of."

"I still think it's a terrible idea, but until we can think of something better, I'll tentatively agree. Meanwhile, like I say, you guys need to keep your noses as clean as you can; the first year team is stupidly strong, and we can't afford to lose you," Mietta said.

"I'll talk to the others, see if we can't tighten up our security a little. Thank you, seriously; we couldn't do this without you," Liane replied.

"Alright, I'll leave you to your tea. I'll see you soon," Mietta said, standing up from the table.

"See you," Liane said, and Mietta left her alone. As soon as Liane finished her drink she made her way back to the library and swapped out her usual load of spellbooks for more herbology and potions books, with the intention of taking Yvette's advice and broadening her knowledge beyond that which she already knew. When she was done she headed back down to the second-floor, rounding the corner towards the bathroom to find Yvette and Remy standing, their backs to the bathroom door, facing Albus and Rose.

"Liane," Albus said coldly, "come over here."

Liane walked over to the four of them, unsure of what was going to happen next.

"I'm going to take a leap here and say you had something to do with this," Albus said.

"With what?" Liane asked innocently.

"With these two being spotted coming out of the boarded up room that serves as the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," Rose replied. Liane blinked.

"With what?" she asked, legitimately confused.

"Albus, remember Liane only knows about those days because of the official biography. They never released the information as to where the Chamber of Secrets was to the public; not even _I_ knew," Remy replied.

"Then what were you doing in there?" Rose asked.

Liane looked to Remy and Yvette, who both looked back at her with resigned expressions.

"Okay, fine; we were setting up to brew a polyjuice potion so that we could smuggle Mietta Scalieri into the Slytherin girls dorms. She's going to cast a tracking ward on the first-year girls to make it harder for whoever is attacking the students to avoid counter-attack," Liane explained.

Albus frowned. "Why not just get a teacher to cast the spell?" he asked.

Liane gave him the same explanation she had given Mietta, explaining her reasoning.

"Liane, that's-" Albus began, turning red.

"I know, alright? I know it's not the best plan, it's just the best plan we _have_ ," Liane replied, cutting him off.

"Why not, at least, skip the potion and call all the first-year Slytherin girls to an empty classroom during the day to cast the spell?" Rose asked.

Everyone went silent for a moment, before Liane and Remy simultaneously slapped her palms to their heads.

"Stupid, stupid, _stupid!_ " Liane yelled to herself.

"It's so _obvious_ ," Remy growled, "how did we miss that?"

"Well, obviously _now_ we're going to do that instead," Liane said to Rose.

"I'll tell Wesley we don't need him," Yvette said, sounding relieved.

"If you could tell Mietta about the change of plans as well, that would be good," Liane said, "meanwhile we'll tell the girls. Let's aim for meeting in the Advanced Charms room at two o'clock tomorrow," Liane added.

"What about this?" Remy asked, pointing to the door to the bathroom.

"Board it back up," Albus said firmly.

"It's secure," Liane replied, "we should leave it as it is, just in case."

Albus glared at Liane, but didn't say anything more.

"Come on, let's get out of here; we look suspicious enough, just standing here," Rose said, and the four of them began to move.

That night, Liane and Remy hung around in the Common Room, finding and sequestering the first-year girls and discussing the plans with each one. Most, once the concept was fully described, agreed straight away, and Liane made sure Remy spoke with Jessica alone. Eventually, all nine other girls had agreed to meet them at the room beside the Charms classroom, even Olivia, whom to Liane's further embarrassment she realised would have been excluded from the original plan. When they were done, Liane fed Anguis and Zmeya and retired early to bed, turning up her quieting slider all the way and drawing the curtains closed.

Once she was sure that she was alone and undisturbed, Liane placed her wand on her pillow, beside her head, and lay flat on her back, her eyes closed and her hands resting by her sides. Liane took in a long, slow breath, letting it out in an elongated sigh that stretched out for twenty seconds, then took another, slowing her breathing and feeling her heart rate begin to drop at the same time. When her heart and breathing were slowed, Liane focussed her thoughts on her wand, picturing an aura of greenish light surrounding it, creeping out towards her. She pictured a shield of silver light around her, blocking the green light from touching her.

She maintained the image for a moment, picturing the struggle between the green light and the silver, but it didn't _feel_ like she was actually doing anything. There was no sense that she was really fighting off the intentional magic of her wand, just making up silly visions in her head.

As she drifted off to sleep, Liane pictured the silver shield dropping, and the green light washing over her.

When Liane opened her eyes, she was standing in a field, muddy and flat. Her shoulders were weighed down under a hauberk of silver ring mail, and a mantle of green covered her chest and shoulders, topped with a hood. Her shield was strapped to her left arm and her wand was gripped in her right hand, her sword belted to her hip. She turned to look to her left, and saw, astride a charger of brilliant white, a figure armoured in gold and garbed in scarlet. When she looked at the figures face it turned to her, and she saw that it was Albus; she was sure it was him, despite the figure being in his mid-to-late twenties. When she turned to her right, she saw a figure astride a bronze hippogriff, cloaked in the midnight blue cloak she had last seen in the fort during the qualifiers, bright orange hair streaming back in the wind, a helmet tucked under one arm which gripped the reins, the other hand gripping the hawks-head staff. On the far side, off in the distance, Liane saw a figure floating in the air, garbed in yellow and black robes that drifted in the breeze like giant wings.

She could hear the trudging of feet through the mud, and she looked back behind her as she saw scores of people in Hogwarts robes, black with the trimming edged in the colour of their cohort; scarlet, emerald, blue and yellow. Despite the robes, and though there were faces she recognised as students, the armies were all of fully-grown witches, wizards and magi.

"It's nearly time, general," came a voice from beside Liane, and she turned to see Remy dressed in scaled armour that shifted with each change from their body, covering them completely as they rapidly changed between body shapes.

"Time for what?" Liane asked.

"Time to lead," came another voice, and Liane turned the other way to see Scorpius astride a black stallion, his white hair and silver plate-mail glowing in the light from his cloak, which burned with green flames.

Liane's wand grew warm in her hand, and she lifted it up in front of her face. There was a rumble, and Remy and Scorpius moved aside, clearing the way as the ground shook beneath Liane's feet. With a lurch, the ground erupted around Liane's feet, and she rose into the air, standing balanced on the crown of the giant basilisk. There was a moment as Liane looked out, seeing a blurry, shadowy mass of an enemy force she couldn't make out. Reaching out to grab one of the spines that decorated the head of the snake, Liane pointed her wand forward.

"Charge!" she shouted, and the basilisk leapt forward into action, barrelling down the hill at the head of the charge, which was swiftly joined by the other four cohorts.

Liane pointed her wand towards the enemy, which was holding fast, holding their high ground, and screamed.

" _Az-Reth_ ," she cast, and the dark black and red pillar of fiendfyre roared from her wand, spreading wide its dark wings as it took shape, becoming a fiery dragons-head that left only ashen, hard-baked ground in its wake. The dragon crashed into the enemy line and exploded into dark-red flames, tearing apart a chunk of the enemy's forces and distracting the remainders as the inferno raged across their front line. Rather than deal with the fiendfyre, the enemy broke ranks and split apart, becoming twin columns charging for the dry middle-ground.

Liane's basilisk opened its eyes, and scores of the enemy bodies fell to its gaze, needing only to look into its eyes for them to be stripped of their lives. Bolts of emerald light flooded from the mass of shadowy figures, and Liane felt a lurch as her basilisk was hit by dozens of killing curses, felling it instantly. Liane lost her balance as the head dropped, and she toppled forward, falling towards the line of shadowy figures. Liane span her wand around in her hand as she dropped, pointing it back at herself.

" _Arresto Momentum_ ," she cast, and her fall slowed to a gentle drift. Raising her shield, Liane tucked her legs up underneath and pulled her head down, feeling a number of heavy thuds as curses struck her magically reinforced shield. When her feet hit the ground, she swung around with her wand.

" _Tempest Razor_ ," she chanted, and there was a sudden howl as the air was filled with a raging windstorm. The crowd in front of her collapsed, blood filling the air, as the razor sharp wind passed over them, tearing apart armour and flesh without discrimination. Liane straightened up and raised her hand, and from behind her Scorpius' charger appeared, his arm reaching down to grab her hand and swing her up behind him.

"Lovely timing, as always," Liane said, wrapping her shield arm around Scorpius to cover them both with her shield, the flames that wreathed his shoulders dying down.

"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper," Scorpius replied with a grin.

"Wiseass," Liane said with a smile, before turning to the battlefield once more to fire down into the scores of soldiers, who even now Liane couldn't really tell what they were. Something about them was familiar, from the way they appeared to the way they cast their spells, but Liane couldn't work out what.

Albus came alongside them, the white and black chargers riding in tandem, and after a moment Liane saw the Ravenclaw hippogriff drop down from the sky as well. Somehow, even with the helmet over her head, Liane could recognise the Ravenclaw leader as Rose, who said nothing to Liane as they locked eyes, only nodding. The flying figure in Hufflepuff colours zoomed passed, drawing the attention of the soldiers on the ground but moving too swiftly to be struck.

"Are you ready, Liane?" Albus called.

"I've been ready since the day we met," Liane replied, raising her wand once more. Albus nodded and raised his own wand, and Rose raised her staff.

There was a sudden shaking, and Liane felt the image slip in her vision. Another shake, and Liane felt like she was falling; falling off the stallion? No, falling further, deeper and darker.

With one final jerk, Liane awoke to see Remy and Olivia standing over her, their faces wracked with worry. After a second, Liane realised she wasn't in her bed either; she was lying on the Common Room floor, in the middle of the general lounge, and her wand was in her hand.

"Liane? Liane are you alright?" Remy asked.

"What happened?" Liane asked, groggily.

"You were running around, mumbling to yourself, firing off spells. We think you were sleepwalking," Olivia said.

Liane thought about the spells she had used in the dream, and her eyes widened. "Oh, no, what did I do?" she asked, trying to push herself up.

"Thankfully, not much," said Professor Slughorn from behind her, and Liane looked around to see only a few scorch marks here and there. "There were a few _extremely_ dangerous spells in those somnambulistic ramblings of yours, miss Langford, and we can all be thankful that you are not at all capable of actually _casting_ them. Instead, your wand merely produced sparks, which you will of course be scrubbing off _without magic_ tomorrow night for detention. Now would you like to tell us what was happening in that dream?" he asked sternly.

Liane looked back at the Professor, thinking about the conversation she'd had with him only recently.

"I...I don't remember, Professor. Just one of those things, I guess," she said, "you know how dreams can sometimes vanish from your mind."

"Hmm, very well," the Professor said, "still, I think it would be for the best if you were to relinquish your wand to me in the evenings if this is likely to happen again-"

"No!" Liane said, before catching sight of Professor Slughorn's expression, "I mean, no, Professor, I don't think that's necessary."

"Well, far be it from me to deprive you of your wand; you are a victim of circumstance, I suppose. Still, perhaps come and see me tomorrow if you think this might be a regular issue, we can see about supplying you with a soporific potion to ease your sleep. Now, to bed, the lot of you," Professor Slughorn said, and Remy helped Liane to her feet.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Remy asked.

"I...Yeah, I think I'm okay. I think there are a few people I need to talk to though," Liane replied, wobbling a little as she rose.

"Who?" Olivia asked.

"First, I'd like to talk to the Headmistress. Then, Marvin Wallace," Liane said, patting Remy on the shoulder to let them know she was fine to move on her own, "there are some things I need to know and some things I need to do."

"Marvin Wallace the wandsmith? Liane, what is going on?" Remy asked.

"With luck, nothing serious. It's alright, guys, I'll be fine; we should head back to bed," Liane replied.

With grave nods, the two of them left Liane to walk back to the girls dormitories on her own as they headed back to their own rooms. Liane got back to the dorm, noting with expressions of thanks that the other girls were still asleep and there were no scorch marks in here, and put her wand away in her trunk before climbing back into bed. As her head hit the pillow, Liane began to drift off, feeling the niggling sensation at the edge of her mind of the presence of the wand down in the trunk, but it was not powerful enough to breach the distance to her and as Liane fell into sleep she was plagued with no more dreams.

The next day, after lunch, Liane, Remy and Yvette met up with Mietta and the rest of the Slytherin first-year girls in the Advanced Charms room and they reiterated the plan in full.

"Now, the ward is a difficult spell, but I've looked over it and several segments are similar to spells I already know, so I should have it mastered in a month or two," Mietta explained, "unfortunately this means it might be Christmas before we can actually put this plan into action. Meanwhile, the rest of you are still in danger, so we urge you all to be careful."

"How do we know this figure is really just targeting us?" asked Francesca White, a quiet girl from Liane's dorm whom, now that she thought of it, Liane had actually never heard speak.

"We don't, not really; but three attacks against Slytherin first-year girls looks enough like the start of a pattern that we're willing to take steps, if you all are," Liane said.

"And who came up with this idea; you, mudblood?" Jessica Price asked. Liane frowned.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I suppose we could always skip this all and start asking if _you_ have any idea who is attacking us; after all, you _did_ survive, and according to Wanda you were talking to them first," Liane said coolly.

Jessica's expression shifted, from snide to nervous.

"No...I- I don't remember anything from that day…" she muttered.

"Then, unless there are any other objections…" Liane asked, looking around the room, "okay, we have a plan. Mietta will let us know when she's ready."

When the others had all agreed and begun to leave, Mietta turned to Liane, Yvette and Remy.

"I'm not sure about this idea, but this plan is better than the polyjuice. Still, I have some reservations about the spell; or rather, about using _this_ particular spell," she said.

"What do you mean?" Yvette asked.

"Well, I can't help but think we'd be better off just shielding them all," Mietta explained, "it would save them from getting hurt."

"True, but that doesn't help us in the long run," Liane replied, "we shield them now, we need to shield them all year, and it doesn't help us catch this person. Besides, if whoever it is attacks one of the girls and finds them shielded, they might move on to the other houses, and we're back to square one."

"So you are selling them the idea of protection but actually dangling them as bait?" Mietta asked.

"You might put it that way," Liane said slowly, "I mean, I'm not intentionally putting them in harm's way. I just mean, if and when one of them is attacked it would be _better_ if we could jump out from the shadows and nick them rather than simply avoid getting hurt, especially since we haven't seen anything so far that is immediately life-threatening. In the meantime, we'd best all just be careful."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Mietta said, standing up, "take care of yourself until then, okay?"

"Will do, I promise," Liane replied, and Mietta left.

"So, while I'm scrubbing the walls tonight you two will be out partying?" Liane said, turning to Yvette and Remy.

"Yeah. You seem to be taking this better," Remy said, leaning back.

"I got a little perspective from Slughorn as to what the Slug Club stands for, it made things a little clearer," Liane said, choosing her words carefully.

"I'm glad. Course, it would be nice if you didn't have to have detention at the same time; have you spoken with McGonagall yet?" Remy asked.

Liane shook her head. "Not yet; I'm going to go and see her now, if I can."

Yvette bit her lip. She'd been very alarmed and concerned when Liane had explained fully to the two of them what had happened in her dream, and while Liane didn't mention the giant rainbow snake in the forest, fearing that would alarm them both, she did mention the apparent will behind the core of her wand, and how its proximity to her as she slept triggered the dreams.

"Good luck," she said at last.

"Thanks; we'll see how this all goes," Liane said, standing up, "I'll see you guys at dinner?"

Remy shook their head. "We're eating there; it's technically a dinner," they reminded her, and Liane nodded.

"Of course. Alright, I'll see you...tomorrow, I guess," she said, and left the two of them behind.

Not knowing where the Headmistress' office was located, Liane headed to the third floor where she knew to find the office for Professor Longbottom, where she knocked on his door and waited for a response.

"Come in," he said after a while, and Liane pushed her way inside.

"Ah, miss Langford; how can I be of assistance?" Professor Longbottom asked as she stepped into his office. Every inch of shelf space that wasn't taken up by soil-stained-yet-important-looking documents was covered in pots of plants of various size, shape and sinister-looking lethality. Liane wasn't sure what ninety percent of the plants were, having barely started to invest in her Herbology studies, but she wasn't keen on touching too many of them. The professor was half-engulfed in some sort of creeping fern, the vines draped across his shoulders and lap, and he had a piece of parchment draped across several different sized books, a half-chewed quill in his hand.

"Uh, Professor, I wanted to see if I was able to speak with the Headmistress about something that has been concerning me," Liane asked.

"Unfortunately the Headmistress is with the Ministry this week but she should be returning on Friday. Can I ask what this is in regards to?" Professor Longbottom asked.

Liane bit her lip, unsure as to how much she should reveal.

"I've been experiencing...interrupted dreams," Liane said slowly.

"Oh, well I'm sure Professor Slughorn or Madam Pomfrey can provide you with something to help you sleep-" the professor began.

"No, sir, not interrupted sleep; interrupted _dreams_. I'm experiencing what I believe to be an invasion of my mind by an outside force," Liane explained.

Professor Longbottom's expression became suddenly very serious.

"Do you have any idea as to what sort of force is causing this corruption?" he asked.

Liane looked around nervously, checking the door was closed.

"I...I'd prefer to speak directly with the Headmistress, professor, there are facts that I consider rather...personal," Liane stumbled.

"Liane, if you feel like you're in any danger, I want you to know you can speak with me," Professor Longbottom said.

"I don't think I'm in danger, professor, but I…No, I'm not in any danger, but it is necessary I speak with the Headmistress," Liane repeated.

Professor Longbottom nodded. "Okay, Liane, I'll organise a time for you with the Headmistress on Friday evening. Is there anything else I can assist with?" he asked.

"Um, perhaps; I'll go into further detail with the Headmistress on Friday, but I also wanted to know if there was any possibility of having a meeting with Marvin Wallace?" Liane asked.

Professor Longbottom started, his eyes widening. "What on earth for?" he asked, surprised.

"It's...a related issue. You know the provenance of my wand, I take it? I've been told it was quite infamous before it chose me," Liane said.

"I do," Professor Longbottom replied, his eyes narrowing, "there were many who thought it was a wand that would only accept a new Dark Lord."

"Really, I hadn't heard that," Liane said quietly, "there are a lot of rumours. But, well, whether the specifics of the rumours are true, I have some questions as to whether the _concept_ of the infamy behind it is perhaps, a bit...justified."

Professor Longbottom leaned back, putting his quill down.

"Might I have a look at it?" he asked.

Liane nodded and handed over her wand, Professor Longbottom turning it over in his hands. He pointed it towards his window, and frowned after a moment of no reaction. He then moved the wand to his other hand, drew his own wand, and waved his around, the tip trailing sparks.

"Hmm, odd," he said quietly, handing the wand back to Liane, "Liane, if you would, could you cast something simple, something non-destructive?" he asked.

Liane raised her wand. " _Flagrate_ ," she cast, and flickering sparks of red, yellow and blue light shot out from the tip of her wand and began to dance in the air, tumbling over and around each other. With a wave, Liane dispelled the sparks.

"Interesting; yes, Liane, I think we can organise for Mister Wallace to make a trip to Hogwarts sometime soon. Is that all?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"No, professor, thank you," Liane replied, putting her wand away.

"I'll let you know when I can about your meeting with the Headmistress. Good afternoon, Liane," he said, and Liane nodded and moved back out of the office.

After dinner, Liane returned to the Slytherin Common Room to find a very sour looking Molly Shepard, who pointed Liane to a bucket of soapy water and a brush before relieving her of her wand.

"I hope you're happy, Langford; I've been waiting years to get an invite to the Slug Club," Molly growled.

"I'm sorry," Liane said, rolling up her sleeves, "I certainly didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"What were you thinking, anyway, shooting up the Common Room? It's not very like you," she asked.

"I, ah, wasn't thinking. I wasn't actually awake…" Liane explained, getting down to start scrubbing at the scorch mark.

"You did all this sleepwalking?" Molly asked, grunting out a laugh.

"Yeah," Liane replied with a sigh.

"Remind me never to sleep through a study break again," Molly said, sitting down on the edge of the fountain.

"I'll do that," Liane laughed, "but I doubt this will happen again. I'm sorting out with the Headmistress a way to stop it."

"Good; because I'm not missing another one of these dinners," Molly said, stretching.

Liane worked solidly for many hours, scrubbing clean the black marks as the rest of Slytherin house, those that weren't dining with Professor Slughorn, came and went about her. When Molly wasn't looking, Jessica walked past and fired a blast from her wand at the scorch mark, refreshing the blackened ash stains as Liane tried to clean them away. Liane had to bite down on her tongue to make any mention of Jessica having been left off the guest list when Jeremy was going, lest she incur a fiercer wrath.

Nine-thirty came and went, and Remy, Scorpius and Olivia hadn't returned, although neither had any of the older students, so Liane took little notice of it at first. As the hours passed, and older students started to dribble in, Liane began to get nervous. When she finished up the cleaning at eleven and Molly went to bed, Liane draped herself on one of the couches and sat, waiting, uneasy. Finally, the clock struck midnight, and the three first years were officially outside of curfew, and Liane, concerned, looked around for someone she could rely on.

"Wanda?" she asked, crossing the Common Room to speak with the Prefect.

"Yes, Liane, what's up?"

"I'm concerned; Remy, Olivia and Scorpius never returned from the Slug Club dinner. Were they still there when you left?" Liane asked.

Wanda frowned. "I'm not sure; I remember seeing them early in the night, but I can't place if they were there when I left. You say they haven't come back at all?" she asked.

Liane shook her head. "I haven't seen them, and I've been here all night," she explained.

Wanda drew her wand and turned to the boys and the magi she had been speaking with, whom Liane recognised as other Duellers. "Come on, we should make sure they're alright," she said, and Liane followed them as they headed out. The magi, a sixth-year named Artemis Fontaine, took point, Wanda following behind them and the two boys, fourth-year brothers Angus and Connor Macrae, flanking Liane at the centre. They moved up together, heading for the Grand Staircase in the Entrance Hall as soon as they were out of the dungeons, towards the second-floor where the dinner had been held.

"Eyes forward," Wanda said as they each lit up their wands, becoming a small nimbus of light that floated up the stairs without breaking formation, giving Liane a glimpse at the exacting discipline of those who had been with the Duellers for some time.

When they reached the second floor, the five of them moved to the dining room in which Professor Slughorn had hosted his party, three corridors away. When they arrived at the head of the corridor they stumbled upon two fourth years, a boy and a girl, cosied up together in a nook. When the squad of Duellers appeared, the two leapt apart, guiltily.

"We weren't-" the boy began, but Wanda cut him off.

"Relax, Walker, we don't care what you and Perkins do to one another. We're looking for three first-years; Malfoy, Greengrass and Scofield, have you seen them?" she asked.

"N- no, not since the dinner ended," the boy replied, nervously.

"They were heading back towards the staircase," the girl chimed in.

"We just came from there, so they must have gotten lost," Artemis said.

"I doubt it; Scorpius and Olivia have both known Hogwarts for a while, since they have parents who sit on the board. They would know how to avoid the moving staircases dropping them somewhere they don't know," Liane added.

Angus Macrae frowned.

"Malfoy sits on the board?" he said with confusion.

Liane shook her head. "No, Scorpius' and Olivia's mothers, Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, are both on the board, the Greengrass family have held a spot there for decades apparently," she explained.

"Nonetheless, something has held them up, and we can't run the risk of someone like Greengrass being targeted by whoever it is attacking first years. Come on, we have to keep moving," Wanda said, and Artemis moved on, leaving the two blushing fourth-years behind.

Onward through the corridors they moved, Liane struggling to keep up, until Artemis raised a hand and turned to Wanda.

"You hear that?" they asked, "spellfire. This way."

Sprinting off down the corridor, Artemis led the other four through an empty classroom and out the other side into a long hallway which curved around the outside of the castle, windows along one side letting in pale moonlight. Around the bend there were flashes of coloured light, and this close Liane started to hear the voices of Remy and Scorpius yelling incantations. Following the sound and light show, the five of them rounded the bend to find the three first years, Olivia huddled in the lee of a doorway, nursing a bloodied arm, Scorpius standing over her and firing spells down the corridor. Across the other side, Remy lay on the ground, their shoulder cut open with a deep gash, a prism shield raised in front of them.

At the other end of the corridor, near an intersection, there was a shadowy figure, looking just the same as the one Liane had fought all those weeks ago, about the same height as a first year but wreathed in shadows and firing back spells wordlessly.

Artemis and Wanda stepped up, the Macrae boys moving to secure the first years under stronger shield spells so that they could start attending to their wounds. Liane stood, watching the scene, torn between wanting to charge down the corridor at the figure or run to Remy's side.

" _Expulso_ ," Wanda cast, hurling the shadowy figure backwards.

" _Deprimo_ ," Artemis cast immediately after, forcing the figure to smash violently into the ground. When they lowered their wands, the figure wasn't moving, and so they and Liane started down the corridor towards it. They were only halfway down when there was a sudden gust of wind, pushing back against the three of them and knocking Liane off her feet. Artemis and Wanda hunkered down and raised their wands, shielding themselves from the wind as it blasted down the corridor.

Liane pushed herself up to see two more figures, wreathed in shadows, appear over the fallen one. One was short, the same height as the one they had been fighting, and another was tall, looking like a muscular, grown man by its silhouette. The small figure picked up the one that had been crushed under Artemis' spell, carrying it in its arms, and then the tall figure waved its own wand and the three of them vanished.

"Duellers, pull back," Wanda called out, and Angus and Connor lifted their charges up as Wanda and Artemis moved back to cover them. Liane and Scorpius melded into the middle of the group as they walked in tense silence back to the stairs. When they stopped back in the open corridor again, Wanda turned to Liane.

"Were they who attacked you?" she asked.

"The smaller figure, the one you two took out, they looked like the one I fought. But there was only ever one, as far as I knew, and the taller figure is new," Liane replied.

"Well, whoever they are, we know something important," Artemis said, and Wanda nodded.

"Indeed; we should speak with Professor Macmillan tomorrow," Wanda said.

Liane looked at the two of them, confused. "What do we know?" she asked.

"We know that whoever they are, they can teleport within the grounds of Hogwarts. Very few things can teleport through magic, and even fewer aren't blocked by the Hogwarts warding against apparition. Which reduces our range of possible culprits," Wanda explained.

"The height is concerning too," Angus said.

"You thinking the same as me?" Connor asked, and Angus nodded.

"Elves," he said, "House Elves can teleport around Hogwarts without any trouble."

Wanda shook her head. "House Elves can't use wands," she said.

"Regardless, it's a good lead. Like you said though, we should talk to the Defence Professor tomorrow morning. Come on, we should get the first years to the Hospital Wing," Artemis said.

"I'll go," Wanda said, "as Prefect I have the authorisation to be out after dark. You take Liane and Scorpius down to the dorms."

Artemis nodded. "Okay; send a pat if you run into trouble," they replied.

From there they split, the Macrae boys helping Remy and Olivia to walk up towards the Hospital Wing, Wanda walking behind them, and Artemis led Liane and Scorpius down back to the Slytherin Common Room.

"What did Wanda mean by 'send a pat'?" Liane asked as they made their way down.

"Patronus Charm; because they're untraceable, unstoppable and unfakeable, it's Dueller policy that we learn it in third year," Artemis explained.

Liane turned to Scorpius. "Third year? Mietta has us learning it now…"

Artemis snorted. "That doesn't surprise me; Scalieri likes pushing her Advanced Placement classes," they said.

"So how come we didn't see you in the Qualifiers?" Scorpius asked.

"The Duellers members from the top three years met before Duellers began to decide who would apply and who wouldn't; there'll be a lot of students heading over to Beauxbatons to watch the events, and just over a hundred competitors, but there'll still be a majority of the school left behind. I'm one of the several who chose not to compete in order to take over Duellers during the Olympiad," Artemis explained.

"So you're one of the top then?" Liane asked.

"I aim to be Captain next year," Artemis said with a nod.

"So you and Remy must be on good terms then; the only two magi Duellers, sharing a dorm?" Liane asked.

Artemis shrugged.

"Remy's a good kid; a little more grown up than some others I've met. The different age groups mean we don't talk much in the dorms," they said, and Liane nodded.

When they reached the dungeons and then on to the Common Room, they went their separate ways, Liane stopping to give Scorpius a quick hug and reassure him that his cousin was going to be okay. As soon as Liane was back in her dorm room, she looked briefly at Hannah's empty bed, then moved over to her trunk. Rummaging through the books and clothes, Liane pulled out her copy of _Essential Defence against the Dark Arts_ , climbed onto her bed, pulled the curtains closed and lit up her wand. Turning to the chapter on creatures of dark magic, Liane began to read.


	17. Chapter 17: Last Practice

Chapter 17: Last Practise Run

Liane visited Remy and Olivia in the Hospital Wing the next morning after her run, but they were already being discharged; having each shared a portion of the attack, Remy having thrown themselves in front of Olivia when the figure slashed them with their spell, the damage was minimal. Wanda and Artemis had been there as well, speaking with the two of them as well as Professors Longbottom and Macmillan, discussing the conflict in the halls the night before.

"We've sent word to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of Magical Creatures, both of which will be sending officers to station themselves in the grounds and add a layer of extra security for the students," Professor Longbottom said with a nod, "if there are any more attacks hopefully next time will be the last."

Liane briefly wondered whether she ought to mention the plan with Mietta to tag all the first-year Slytherin girls with a warning spell, but the meeting was breaking up just as she got close enough to hear that final word, and the professors both left before she could speak up.

Remy and Olivia were fully healed, and so they all made their way down to breakfast together, where they met up with Yvette, Bertie, Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Mitchell and Cassandra, most of whom had been at the event the night before. The conversation moved slowly, at first, those that had been at the party throwing nervous glances at Liane, but after she began to ask questions they all started talking; how much of a snob some of the older students were, how Jeremy and Booker cracked jokes all night with Lion, how the Duellers all banded together when some seventh-year started to dismiss the idea of a duelling club. It seemed that all the biggest names from the school had been in attendance, obviously excluding Molly and Liane herself, and more than a few had expressed confusion as to why Liane wasn't there. Apparently Slughorn had allowed the other Slytherin Prefects to explain Liane had detention rather than explain that she had never received an invitation in the first place.

The rest of that day went by quickly, as with the excitement of the qualifiers having cooled off and the upcoming Duellers event not being for another few days yet, there was little to do around Hogwarts except enjoy the castle and relax, Liane taking the time to mail the letter to her parents using a borrowed Hogwarts school owl. Early Friday, Liane received a note on her nightstand. Opening it, she read;

 _Dear Miss Langford,_

 _Headmistress Minerva McGonagall will receive you in her office at three-thirty this afternoon._

 _Please arrive at the statue of Guye de Lavosier on the third-floor western corridor at no later than three twenty-five._

When the time came for her to go to the meeting, Liane began to feel a bit nervous. She'd wished she had bothered to contact her father about his family history earlier, as some paperwork would make the process a lot smoother. Instead, she made her way to the third floor and found the statue of the rather unattractive old wizard, whom from her History class Liane vaguely recognised as the author of some rebellion in Belgium. As Liane's watch beeped out the alarm for three twenty-five that she had set, the statue stepped aside to reveal a staircase behind him, spiralling up into a tower that Liane couldn't mentally place in her internal map of the outside of Hogwarts.

Stepping onto the staircase, Liane felt a jerking motion as the stairs began to move, raising her like a spiral elevator up to the top of the tower. Liane spent a confusing moment trying to work out how this could possibly work, before her logical mind was overridden by her common sense and she was forced to just handwave it away as magic.

As she reached the top, Liane found a large, sturdy wooden door, a bronze cat's-head knocker glaring down at her from the middle. Liane reached up to knock on the door, but as soon as she touched the knocker the door swung open, and Liane stepped through into the Headmistress' office.

The room was spacious, split level and high ceilinged, with a lower section filled with tables, deep couches and bookshelves, and an upper section connected by a pair of short staircases which was dominated by a large mahogany desk. Around the walls, where there were not already large picture windows that showed an unimpeded view of the Hogwarts ground no matter which way you looked, were large portraits of Head teachers from years past, the pride of place being given to an ancient wizard in purple robes with kindly-eyes that twinkled behind half-moon spectacles, positioned above a large marble fireplace. Across from the fireplace was a cabinet, blackened like it had been engulfed in flames and still remained standing, almost imposing and ominous in its position.

Sitting at one of the couches in the centre of the room was Marvin Wallace, looking every bit as red-faced as Liane remembered, and standing near the window was the Headmistress, who was leaning heavily on an old, weathered cane.

"Miss Langford, thank you for your promptness," Headmistress McGonagall said.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Headmistress," Liane replied politely.

"Well, Deputy Headmaster Longbottom seemed quite convinced that you had something of interest to say. I must admit I was intrigued as to why you asked to meet with Mister Wallace as well," McGonagall said, turning and walking over to an armchair and gesturing for Liane to take a seat.

"So what's this all about, lass?" Marvin asked. Liane bit her lip, unsure of how to continue.

"I...I have some concerns. I believe my mind is being affected by my wand," Liane said.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? What makes you think that?" she asked.

"I've been having dreams, vivid, realistic dreams of leading armies as I ride a basilisk into battle; before I dreamt it, I didn't know what a basilisk even _looked_ like. And the dreams are so real, they've started making me sleepwalk; I even started casting spells in my sleep the other night," Liane explained. "It only happens when I have my wand near me as I sleep."

McGonagall turned to Marvin. "Is this possible?" she asked.

"Well, I cannae say I've ever seen it myself; there's only one story similar, that of Valar Wyrmtongue who could speak with dragons, who used to say he could hear the beating of the dragon heartstring in his wand. But he was near mythical, blessed with powers no normal witch would have," Marvin explained, scratching his head.

Liane coughed. "Um...I might not be too far off that," she said.

"Indeed? What brought this thought to you?" McGonagall asked.

"I, uh, I believe, I mean to say, I have _reason_ to believe, that I, might be, the, uh, the newest Heir of Slytherin," Liane stammered.

There was silence from the two adults that stretched out for an uncomfortably long time.

"I see," Headmistress McGonagall said at last, "and what _reason_ do you have to believe this?" she asked, dubiously.

Liane drew her wand from her robes. "I can prove, at least, I can show you the evidence that makes me think so, if you would allow me," she said.

"What do you intend to do?" Marvin asked, nervously.

"Something I've done many times before, something I know to be safe. Please?" Liane asked.

McGonagall nodded, so Liane raised her wand.

" _Serpensortia_ ," she cast, and there was a puff of black smoke before a large black serpent appeared on the table. Both McGonagall and Marvin jumped, reaching for their wands, but Liane raised a hand.

"It's alright; you wanted proof, here it is. _Snake, use your body to write out the letters of my name_ ," Liane said, shifting from English to Parseltongue to the shock of the two adults. They watched in fascination as the snake shifted around into first an L-shape, then an I, a lower case A and then an N and a lower case E. When it was done, it rose up once more to look expectantly up at Liane.

" _Deletrius_ ," Liane cast, and the snake once more disappeared in another puff of black smoke.

There was a chuckle, and Liane turned in surprise as the portrait above the fireplace clapped his hands.

"You have to admit, Minerva, that was impressive in one so young," the portrait said.

"That's true, Albus, but it's also very worrying," McGonagall said, and it finally clicked for Liane as she realised the portrait was the former headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, Albus Potter's namesake.

"Well, that might explain the dreams; the core of that wand is the optic nerve of the basilisk, the beast of Slytherin that once resided in the Chamber of Secrets. If Valar could hear the dragon's heart still beating, perhaps you are _seeing_ the beast's plans for you; to become a new Slytherin," Marvin said.

"Perhaps so; Miss Langford, tell me more about these dreams. Who are you fighting?" McGonagall asked.

Liane described, in detail, the last dream she'd had, of riding with Scorpius, Albus, Rose and the mysterious, masked Hufflepuff, and of the shadowy figures they had fought.

"Much like the creatures attacking students, then?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes; I have a theory there, too, but not much of one," Liane said.

"Is that so?" McGonagall asked, "well, while we're here, we might as well ask, what do you think is the cause of these attacks?"

"Well," Liane said, "the figures are covered in shadows, can teleport in Hogwarts grounds, are short and carry wands; there's no one thing that can do that. There are, however, combinations that might produce those effects; I believe the attackers are House Elves," she explained.

"House Elves cannot carry wands," Marvin said.

Liane shook her head. "Not quite; House Elves are _restricted_ from carrying wands because they're servants to wizards and witches; a _free_ House Elf could use a wand, if trained. And that brings me to my next theory; the House Elves are being coordinated by another figure, a Dvergar or dark elf, or perhaps a similar type of crossbreed like the house elves themselves. It's all in _Essential Defence_ , although I did cross-reference with _Ancient Worlds_ and _Metropolitic Menagerie_ , for the backgrounds on the elves," Liane explained.

"That's impressive reading for an eleven-year-old," Marvin Wallace said with a frown.

Liane shrugged. "I've been reading since before I started school, and I remember nearly everything I've read. Even if I wasn't the Heir of Slytherin, being the heir of Kyle Langford is enough of a superpower in my eyes," she replied.

"Well, we will certainly look into this possibility; unfortunately it raises as many questions as it seeks to answer. Where did a Dark Elf come from? Why turn the Hogwarts free elves against the school? Why the focus on Slytherin first-year girls? There is a lot of ground to cover, and so long as we can keep the school open while we investigate, we will continue to look into this matter ourselves.

"Meanwhile, I think we ought to look at the option of procuring for you a new wand, miss Langford-" McGonagall began, but Liane stood up.

"No! I mean, I'm sorry, Headmistress, but...no, I won't give up my wand," Liane said protectively.

McGonagall frowned. "You realise, Liane, that if you put any other students at risk we can expel you and destroy the wand anyway?" she said coolly.

Liane felt her heart jump into her throat. "I, I-" she stammered.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Headmistress," Marvin said, "there's not much that Ollivanders left for me to go through, but he seemed very sure that the wand of the Beast of Slytherin was one of his most important pieces; the air of reverence in his journals put me in mind almost of the Elder Wand."

"All the more reason it shouldn't be in the hands of a first year," McGonagall replied.

Marvin shrugged. "The wand claimed her, Headmistress, and the lass seems rather taken with it as well, for all her fears. Separating them might be just as dangerous," he said.

"So what do you suggest?" McGonagall asked.

Liane cleared her throat. "Uh, there is something, the reason why I'm telling you all this. I've been told about a technique, similar to Occlumency; Dormiamancy. I was hoping I could get lessons…" she said, looking pleadingly at the Headmistress.

"Sleep Magic? That's very difficult and advanced magic, Liane, and dangerous too; Professor Slughorn told me you were casting some advanced spells in your sleep. If you start learning Dormiamancy and don't get control over your dreams quickly, you could become very dangerous," McGonagall said sternly.

"I think I can do it though," Liane said earnestly, "I'm already learning to calm my mind with my geijutsu lessons with Wanda Mi, and I've used mind over matter techniques to tap into my subconscious before, to...admittedly mixed results, but still, I think I can do it."

McGonagall's frown deepened, but she turned to Marvin instead of saying anything further.

"If ye'll be looking at tutors, I recommend Potter," he said.

"Would the DMLE allow it?" McGonagall asked.

"I could ask Susan," Liane said, "she could try and speak to them."

"Miss Bones does have a lot of clout with the Department, with Amanda's tenure there still fresh in the Ministry's mind. And Potter could lay the foundation for Occlumency lessons down the line, which I strongly suspect miss Langford will be looking into after not too long," Marvin said.

McGonagall nodded. "I'll send an owl to Kingsley enquiring as to Potter's availability. If it comes to it, Liane, we may need to send another owl to Susan Bones as well, but I would ask you to hold off on that until we have official word from the Minister. Meanwhile, I recommend that you ensure that you keep your wand away from you as you sleep; even if the effect is intermittent, it poses a serious threat to the health of your fellow students. Should you require items to hold you over until the Dormiamancy lessons can begin, such as light globes to facilitate evening study, we will see what we can provide. Is that all for today?" she asked.

"I believe so, Headmistress, thank you," Liane replied, standing up.

"We will keep a close eye on your progress, miss Langford; I strongly suggest you work hard and keep yourself out of trouble. And Liane?"

Liane froze, nervously trying to think of what was left to say. "Yes, Headmistress?"

"Good luck on Monday. You are dismissed," McGonagall said, and Liane smiled, thanked the two of them, and left.

Mondays return to classes were fairly light, largely because of the slow start by students coming off a fortnight's holidays, partially due to the excitement of the upcoming duellers event. There was a lot of gossip as to what it consisted of, which Liane tried not to listen to, but the only thing anyone really knew was that it was to begin on the south lawn, where the practice sessions normally took place, at six-thirty sharp, and, perhaps most intriguingly, the older members from each house were seen going in and out of Common rooms with the house heads, carrying large trunks.

When dinner finished, earlier than normal, competitors and the various spectators made their way out onto the south lawn, to find a ring of enchanted light globes marking off a section of the grass. Duellers members were being given similar little globes which clung to their robes when they stuck them in place, and Liane saw one spectator raising a viewfinder pane, similar to the ones used at the Qualifiers, over a globe to show that the viewfinders would zoom in on the image and show statistical information of the Dueller the globe was attached to.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, other, undecided or multiple, welcome to the second Dueller's Event. This evening we will have a simple, if fast-paced and hair-raising competition for you all, in the same vein of the Qualifiers; Capture the Stars!" Lion announced, stepping into the middle of the circle with Donovan and Jeremy just behind.

"But, there's a twist! The stars that you'll be catching will be scattered across the sky; this is a _broomstick challenge_! Thirty or forty seekers, armed with their wands and eager for that top spot; the winner will get an amazing prize.

"This event, rather excitingly, is a _sponsored_ event; please, give a round of applause to the sponsor for this event, Mister Rolph Watts of Nimbus!"

There was a round of rather excited and extremely surprised applause, as a short man with a wide, beaming smile behind a bushy, walrus-like moustache.

"Thank you, thank you, it's exciting to be here. I am so glad to see such an incredible turn-out here; Nimbus, as the foremost provider of high performance broomsticks for the greater wizarding world, has always supported the decision by Hogwarts to allow its students to take their futures into their own hands. We wish you all the best," he said to the crowd, before turning to where he had walked from, gesturing.

"Bring forth the brooms," he said, and Liane craned her neck to watch as several elder Duellers carried large crates out into the circle. When they placed them down, they opened the crates and revealed that they were full of gleaming ashwood brooms, bound in gold wire around the brushwork.

Lion stepped forward again. "For today, we have locked up the broomsticks belonging to the students; everyone will be on the same field. Today, all competitors will be flying on Nimbus' newest competition brooms, the Nimbus Cloudburst, and the winner will, in addition to the mystery prize, get to keep their broom!"

Liane's eyes widened, and she turned to look at the others. Bertie and Remy were both impressed, but Albus and Scorpius were unfazed.

"So, come and collect a broom, and we will get the rest of the preparations out of the way," Donovan called out, and the students by the crates began handing out brooms to the Duellers arrayed in the circle. Liane moved forward to collect hers, finding it slimmer and sleeker than the Comet she was used to. Her past experiences with flying were not filling her with a lot of confidence, and she was looked around at James, Scorpius and Albus, whom she knew were great flyers. None of them seemed to think much of the challenge, and Albus was even hanging back and joking with James, not hurrying to go and collect a broom.

"May as well hand the prize to one of them, huh?" Remy asked, coming up alongside Liane as they moved forward.

"Probably; but then, I haven't seen any of the Quidditch games this year, I don't know if any of the others are decent flyers," Liane replied.

"I guess that's fair; I've heard a lot of Hufflepuff's team are on the squad, but I don't know any names. We should probably fix that," Remy said with a nod.

When eventually everyone had retrieved a Nimbus Cloudburst and returned to their loose lines of year levels, Lion, Donovan and Jeremy grabbed theirs and stood out the front.

"Release the stars," Donovan called out, and there was a flurry of light down by the Quidditch pitch as streams of shooting lights, like fireworks steering towards a goal, flooded into the sky and began to move swiftly through the air.

"Set the timer," Donovan called, and in the sky above them appeared the image of the number five, with a small minus symbol beside it.

"Mount your brooms; when the timer gets to zero it will count up to five minutes, whereupon a siren will call you back to the ground. If the last star is collected before five minutes the siren will blow and the person who collected the last star will be granted a bonus point," Donovan announced, and Liane climbed onto her broom. She glanced over at Albus and James, seeing the elder boy balancing on his broom while the younger reclined on his, which was pointed up at an angle and his legs dangled either side of the brushes. Liane meanwhile had to grip her broomstick tightly between both hands and legs to stop from sliding one way or the other.

Liane looked up and saw the five flicker and turn into a four, then a three, and she tightened her grip, reading to kick off into the air as soon as the siren sounded. As soon as the image flickered into a zero, the crowd around her rose, and Liane kicked off, rising far faster than she had ever managed on the old Comet. The Cloudburst accelerated like a shot, flinging Liane into the air faster than she could steer. Pulling back, Liane cast her eyes forward, trying to spot a star to target. The bulk of the club was racing each other for the nearest cluster of slower moving stars, but as Liane watched three students fell off their brooms and dropped to the ground, hitting a cushion of a widespread deceleration charm which slowed them to a gentle drift. Rather than risk the mash of bodies going for the easy points, Liane decided to repeat her plan from the qualifiers, and go after the harder targets with the least competition.

Unlike the qualifiers, however, this time Liane was facing students well above her in years and skill levels, and to her combined horror and smug sense of pride, Liane had to duck the flying stunning charms of Lion, Mietta and Tania, who had risen late and were blowing passed her.

"Oi!" she yelped, barrel rolling away from the charms, "easy, first-year!"

The others merely laughed.

"Don't let them get to you, Liane," said Wanda, rising up next to her, "focus on collecting the stars."

Liane gripped her broom in one hand and drew her wand.

"Yeah, I'll do that," she said coolly.

Wanda looked up at the swarm of Duellers, and drew her own wand.

"Hey, Liane; truce for a moment, hold out your wand," she said.

Liane looked across at Wanda with a frown, but raised her wand anyway. Wanda pointed her own wand at Liane's.

" _Feather-Light_ ," she cast, and Liane felt the drag on her wrist ease as her wand suddenly became light as a feather.

"Thanks," Liane said, whipping her wand around much like she had done with the conductor's baton, all those months ago.

"Maho no Geijutsu can and will help you with your spellcasting in the long run, but it's pretty useless when you can't use the stances. A feather-light charm will make casting from a broom much easier," Wanda explained, and Liane nodded.

"Okay, now get out there," she said, and Liane nodded again, before she speared off away from Wanda. Looking up, she saw that the swarm had thinned as the slower moving and closer stars had all been collected and the Duellers had turned to shooting each other off their brooms to cut down on the competition. When she looked down, she saw James, Albus, Scorpius and several others were only just now rising into the air, rising like bullets and twice the speed Liane was moving. Liane gripped her broom tight and started to ascend as well, hoping to use the distance she'd already taken to keep her ahead of the better fliers.

Rising up above the swarm, Liane levelled off to get her bearings and saw Albus slip passed a cluster of other duellers to catch two stars as they crossed paths with one another before pulling into a one hundred and thirty degree turn upwards and leading the two clusters to crash into one another. From there he spiralled around and caught another star before shooting passed Liane up higher than even the towers of Hogwarts. In seconds, Albus had three stars where Liane had none, and she was desperate to close the gap.

Instead of chasing after Albus, which was futile, Liane turned and found a strata of stars no-one was focussing on, and raced towards those, catching one by sheer chance as it twisted in the air randomly and darted towards her. When she turned to grab another, however, she saw Scorpius appear seemingly out of nowhere and blow through two of the stars she was trying for.

"Hey!" she yelled, but Scorpius just buzzed passed her again, a wide grin on his face. Liane momentarily tried tracking him with her wand, to see whether she could knock him from his broom, but he was moving around too quickly to get a proper bead on. Instead Liane turned to the stars once more, fewer of them as they were, and sped off trying to catch one.

Liane stopped paying attention to the others as she flew after the cluster of stars, collecting six in a short amount of time. However, as she headed for her seventh, she felt an odd lurching sensation, before her broom was tugged roughly out of her hands. Liane fell, her upwards momentum fighting against it for only a second as she hung in the air before she began to topple to the ground. She was high enough that as she twisted in the air she could see her broomstick several dozen metres away, as well as the odd refraction of the air where she had been only moments before.

Turning her attention back to her broom as she fell, Liane raised her wand, buffeted by the wind. Taking only as much time as she could allow, Liane rotated the tip and prayed.

" _Lassus Nectere Passus_ ," she cast, and the lasso spell flared outwards towards her broom. Liane wasn't sure the spell had the reach to make it all the way across to the broomstick, but nevertheless she held the wand straight as the ring at the end grew wider and wider, bending slightly in the air as she fell.

As soon as the spell started to slow, before it failed completely, Liane tugged back on her wand, and the ring snapped shut. For a second she was worried she'd missed, the ring seeming to snap shut just in front of the toppling broomstick, but when it pulled taut the broomstick reoriented itself towards her, and Liane realised she had caught it by the very tip.

"Secure. Retract," she commanded, and the broomstick shot towards her through the air. Liane rolled over in the air, holding out her free hand towards the broomstick as it reached her. Catching it out of the air as it reeled in, Liane hooked a leg over the top and released her lasso spell, before rolling around again to put the broom below her.

The ground was looming up in her vision, and Liane pulled up hard on the broom, the magic kicking to life as for a single, terrifying moment it accelerated her _downwards_ , before it slowly began to tilt up the right way. As she straightened out, Liane felt a drag on the tips of her toes as they hit the deceleration charm, but she was already rising back out of it.

Looking up, Liane spotted, far above her, what had knocked her from her broom; one of the figures, too far away to recognise, was firing a huge cone from their wand. The effect was largely invisible, save for the way light through it bent at odd angles, and anything caught in it was dragged roughly towards the caster.

"Oh, you cheat," Liane growled, "a gravity well spell? Are you kidding me?"

Rising back up, Liane watched as teams of flyers tried to attack the figure casting the well, but any spells that hit him just burst into coloured sparks.

 _It must be Lion; no-one else is shielded like that,_ Liane thought.

An idea struck Liane, and she accelerated up and away from the cloud of stars, curving around the edges of the battlefield to rise up above Lion, swinging around until she was directly overhead. As shield-breakers crashed into his skin-tight shield without any effect, Liane lay herself flat across her broom and pointed her wand down at him.

" _Arcana Mortem_ ," she cast, and the red and black arrow of smoke carved a hole in the light show of sparking shield-breakers and struck Lion across the back of his shoulders. There was a flicker as his shield vanished, and Lion looked up in surprise to see Liane, exhausted and magic drained, lying on her broom far above him as the stunners and impediment jinxes crashed into him and he toppled from his broom. Those who had been fighting with him rose into the space he vacated, Mietta rising all the way up to Liane.

"Hey, thanks," she said.

Liane tried to raise her head to quip in return, but she could barely speak.

"Urrr," Liane groaned, and Mietta rolled around beside her.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"T-too m-m-much maa…" Liane slurred, before she felt herself start to slide off her broom.

" _Arresto Momentum,_ " Mietta cast, and as Liane fell from her broom she felt the air turn to treacle, slowing her fall to a gentle drift.

"You'll be okay," Mietta said, collecting Liane's broom as the enchantment switched off, "you just need a rest."

Liane tried to nod, but her eyes were already closing, and as she floated down towards the ground she felt herself begin to drift off.

When Liane awoke, the event was over, and she was lying on a stretcher near the castle. People were talking nearby, and she could hear cheering some distance away. Pushing herself up, Liane saw Lion on another stretcher nearby, Madam Pomfrey checking him over for bruising.

"Hey," Liane said, and the two looked over at her.

"Hey yourself; that was some good shooting, firstie," Lion said.

"Didn't seem to do me much good," Liane said, but she grinned nonetheless, "you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine-" Lion said, and Madam Pomfrey let out disapproving cough, "a few bruises from when I hit the grass, but the slowing charm did what it was supposed to do."

"You're lucky you were out _over_ the grass, young man, if you'd hit the castle-" Madam Pomfrey said scornfully.

"Ah, but I didn't; in fact, no-one did," Lion cut in.

"Nevertheless, I shall be talking with the Headmistress about the safety measures of these events for the future, you can be sure of that," Madam Pomfrey said, before checking Lion off on her clipboard.

"So who won?" Liane asked.

"Another firstie, amazingly; the Potter boy," Lion said, standing up, and Liane's eyes widened.

"Albus _won_?" she asked.

"Seems so; the boy can fly, that's for sure. It's a pity he didn't take after his father and appeal to McGonagall to get a spot on the Gryffindor team in first year, he could take Seeker and move James to Chaser, and we'd be unstoppable," Lion said wistfully.

Liane shrugged. "Sorry," she said, "that's all just words to me."

"I didn't think I'd ever seen you at a game. Still, good for him; the Cloudburst is a good broom," he said, before moving towards the crowd. Liane went to push herself up, but Madam Pomfrey stopped her.

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast, I still need to check you for any damage," she said.

"But-" Liane began, but Madam Pomfrey glared at her.

"No buts, you will sit there and be seen to, and only after you are cleared will you move from that spot, understand?" Madam Pomfrey growled, and Liane slumped.

The crowd cheered again, and Liane could just about hear Donovan's voice as Albus was presented the Cloudburst as his prize. Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey poked and prodded at Liane to find any spots where bruising might have occurred but not yet presented. When she was done, the crowd was already breaking up, and Albus could be seen clutching his new broom and a small lockbox, which Liane supposed must have been a second part of the prize.

"Hey, well done," Liane said, approaching the crowd with Albus in the centre.

"Thanks; I couldn't have done it without you, though," Albus said.

Liane waved her hand dismissively. "Don't talk such rot," she said.

"No, seriously; you didn't see because you'd passed out, but when you took down Lion's shield Albus slipped passed him while everyone else was shooting and cinched his lead. Without that, Scorpius would have won," Remy explained, and Liane looked sideways at Albus.

"Sneaky; there's hope for you yet," she said, and Albus went red.

"Well, I, ah, I was thinking, since I already have a broom-and don't let the guy from Nimbus know, but the V still outstrips the Cloudburst for speed-I thought, as a thank you, that you…" Albus stuttered, and Liane's eyes widened.

"No, Albus, I couldn't-" she began, but Remy elbowed her in the ribs.

"He's embarrassed enough as it is," they hissed in her ear, and Liane's mouth snapped shut. She looked at Albus, red-faced and holding onto a broomstick worth more than the entire contents of Liane's trunk and expecting her to accept it as a gift.

"Hey, Albus?" she said in a voice raised slightly too loud.

Albus looked confused. "Y-Yes?" he asked.

"You could sell that extra broom; I might be looking to buy," Liane said, and winked. Albus gaped for a moment, and then smiled.

"Okay, sure. It's second-hand now, though, and you're my friend, so I can let it go for cheap," he said, equally as forced.

"Deal," Liane said in her normal voice, reaching out to shake Albus' hand, which he took.

The group of them headed back up to the castle, where supper had been laid out on the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables for those who had attended, while Rolph Watts spoke at length with students and professors alike at one end about the merits of acceleration versus handling in Quidditch brooms. Albus, meanwhile, had set his lockbox down on the table in front of him while crowds clustered around him, hoping for a look at the mysterious contents.

At last, he reached out and grasped the key, turning it and opening the lid. Inside, nestled on a silk cushion, was a delicate looking device of leather straps and silver buckles.

"What is it?" Liane asked.

"It's a wand strap," Albus said, lifting it up.

"Pretty top quality, too," Bertie said, leaning over, "the joins have been enchanted."

"Auror-standard, boutique design," Jeremy explained, "it was donated by a...well respected, anonymous benefactor of the Duellers."

"Sorry, I'm still lost," Liane said, and Albus set about loosening the buckles.

"It's a device for attaching a wand to your forearm in a way that allows you to call it to your hand and send it back with a gesture. Aurors use them all the time, as it means they don't need to rely on wandless summoning spells to get to their wands quickly, which can be life-or-death for some situations," Bertie explained.

Liane nodded, recognising the description as being of the way Susan had called her wand easily to her hand when Liane had first found out about magic. As she watched, Albus affixed the strap in place and slid his wand into the clip. He then stood up and, with a simple gesture of raising his hand, his wand shot forward from his forearm and deposited itself in his grip.

"Whoa," Albus murmured, rocking back from the sudden appearance of his wand in his hand, and Liane immediately added such a device to her growing list of equipment that she desperately wanted, on top of the mokeskin pouch, invisibility cloak and feather-light enchanted trunk.

"Talk about a sweet prize; and it couldn't have come at a better time, with the first event so close," Scorpius said, appearing beside Liane. She turned to him to see his eyes fixed on Albus, his expression unreadable.

"Yeah; will they let us take anything other than wands in with us?" Liane asked.

"I have no idea. Technically there was only wands available during the last Triwizard Tournament, but that didn't stop Potter summoning his broom or nicking some gillyweed. I plan on taking my broom, one way or the other," Scorpius explained.

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea. I suppose taking my sword and shield is too much?" Liane asked.

"Given what we had to do just to be considered, I don't think there is such a thing as too much. We have yours and Rose's talent for spells; you're the best offensive caster in our group, but even you have to admit in practically every other field except raw physical ability you're not fantastic. Remy is a transfiguration genius, and they are a metamorph to boot; Albus and I are good all-rounders, but where we excel is in the air. We're a strong team, Liane, but trust me; 'Batons and 'Strang will not go easy on us," Scorpius said, and Liane nodded.

"I'd be annoyed if they did," she replied.


	18. Chapter 18: Sur les rives de Montpellier

Authors note: I'M SO SORRY I'VE TAKEN SO LONG! It's been a mad sixth months; my back went out last October and it's taken ages to get back to form. I'm so near the first event, so I hope the next few chapters make up for it.

Chapter 18: Sur les rives de Montpellier

A concerted effort was made through the next few days to keep the students' focus on their studies, but it was, ultimately, in vain; too much excitement was building up to the first event on November fifth. Sign-up sheets were put up and taken down within an hour, hundreds of students putting their names down to attend the event as spectators while the competitors were all granted their own instructions. Each competitor was allowed to choose one other person to guarantee their inclusion, and Liane chose Yvette. Remy picked Bertie, Scorpius picked Olivia and Albus and Rose picked family. It was with great sadness and disappointment that Liane found out Cassandra and Mitchell had missed out on getting the opportunity to come.

"We'll get to one of the other two events, I promise," Cassandra had said, and Liane had hugged her two friends together tightly.

When November the first had come around, everyone who was heading to Beauxbatons was herded into the horseless carriages that ordinarily took the non-first-year students to and from the Hogwarts Express each year and they set off away from the castle.

Remy had shivered when they'd climbed into their carriage.

"I hate those things," they'd said, and Liane frowned.

"What?"

"Thestrals," they'd replied, and rather than push them on it, Liane had sat puzzled for the rest of the trip.

The carriages took the students through Hogsmeade and further south, to a stretch of rail that looked as though it hadn't been used in some time, where they stopped.

"What's going on?" Liane asked.

Yvette shrugged. "I don't know; I think this is part of the first tracks the Hogwarts Express used to take," she said.

"Used to take?" Liane asked.

"Merlin, Liane, I thought you paid attention in History of Magic?" Remy asked, "the Express used to run on a longer track that trailed through the highlands, before they rebuilt the rails to take a straighter path. Back then, the trip from London to Hogwarts took three days."

"So what are we doing here now?" Scorpius asked, "if this track isn't used anymore, what could we be waiting for?"

His answer came a short moment later, when a whistle blast announced the presence of four gigantic rail carriages appearing around a bend, sans engine. They were each one the size of a house, and were ornately decorated in the house colours; the first was a rich crimson with gold fringing, the second sapphire-blue with bronze around its edges. The fourth was emerald-green and had silver filigree around every feature, and the last, in deference to the standard formatting of the others, was jet black with lurid highlights in bright canary-yellow, making it look like a poisonous amazonian frog. As the four carriages came to rest, separated from one another as they moved, Liane had to admit they were impressive to look at.

"So we are going by train then, I guess," she said, "still, that's a long trip, especially if we're on the loopy, outdated track."

"I don't know," Albus said, his grin wide, "I think I might have figured out something Hagrid hinted out when I saw him last. Keep an eye out."

Unsure of what she was looking for, Liane followed the boy's advice, and looked around, but it was Yvette who pointed into the air first, stifling a gasp.

"Look," she said, and the group all turned to look in the direction she was pointing, as others around them did the same.

In the sky, off to the east, four black dots had appeared. As they got closer, Liane began to realise that they were larger than they'd appeared at first; as they got closer still, she updated that thought to _huge_. At last, they were visible; four gigantic, winged lions, their manes gold, silver, bronze and black, respectively. Each one matched the carriages for size, and Liane realised they were bridled and harnessed.

"Holy-" Remy began.

"They're beautiful!" Yvette gushed, cutting Remy off before they could utter whatever expletive was coming next.

"They really are; I didn't know Hogwarts had any winged lions?" Liane asked.

"Well, according to Hagrid-and he was being really cryptic about it, so excuse me if I get any of this wrong-they were purchased by Bill Weasley by a source of his in Egypt, and Hagrid has been rearing them on a special diet to get their manes and size right," Albus explained.

"They grew like that through diet? I need to talk to Hagrid about getting me some of whatever he's feeding them," Scorpius said, his eyes transfixed on the silver maned lion with a conflicted expression.

"What's wrong?" Liane asked.

Scorpius shrugged. "Nothing, they're just a little... _Gryffindor_ ," he said awkwardly.

"And what's wrong with that?" Albus asked darkly.

"Hey, man, it's fine," Liane said, patting Scorpius on the shoulder, "think how terrible it would be if they had giant versions of all the house animals pulling the carriages."

Scorpius laughed, and Yvette and Albus turned to the two Slytherins in horror.

"Yeah, no-one wants to see a giant badger pulling up," Remy said, and Bertie punched them in the arm.

"Okay, everyone, competitors and their chosen company in the Red and Gold carriage," yelled Professor Macmillan, walking through the crowd, "the rest of you, the remaining three carriages will open one at a time. Please start lining up for entry at the Silver and Green carriage where the accompanying Professors will show you to the available compartments."

Liane and the rest of their group made their way towards the red and gold carriage, eventually being directed to a luxurious compartment designed, as Albus informed them, around the Gryffindor house common room, with deep scarlet couches and a roaring fireplace. Their travel cases, filled with the small amount of clothing and personal effects they expected to need, including Albus, Scorpius and Liane's broomsticks, had been collected and placed in a neat pile in one corner.

Liane sank down onto a couch and closed her eyes, Yvette and Remy dropping down beside her while Bertie, Scorpius and Olivia took the one facing them. Albus, accompanied by cousin Victoire, the daughter of Bill Weasley, and Rose, accompanied by another cousin Roxanne, daughter of George Weasley, took the scattered armchairs nearer to the fire.

Victoire, whom Liane had met only briefly on her first day, was a stunning sixth-year girl with silver-white hair and startling blue eyes. As the oldest person in their compartment, she seemed somewhat reserved, leaving the younger students to chat amongst themselves.

Roxanne, on the other hand, had the traditional Weasley red hair but, in deference to her mixed-race parentage, had noticeably darker skin and her hair was a few shades darker than Rose's. She was a second year but the two Weasley girls chatted more like sisters than cousins. Roxanne it seemed was a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and their compartment was soon joined by James and his friends, turning the conversation to a loud discussion of Gryffindor's chances for winning the Quidditch Cup.

Liane, in an attempt to distract herself from the seemingly endless sport talk, pulled out a book from her bag.

"Brushing up?" Bertie asked. Liane nodded.

"The broomstick competition made me realise; all my spells, with a few exceptions, are aggressive. Some more utility spells should round out my options," she explained.

"So what are you learning now?" he asked.

"I'm looking at getting Feather Light working," Liane replied.

"You should be working on your transfiguration," Remy said, "those partially complete wine glasses are starting to get creepy."

Liane frowned. "I don't know what else to do. I tried tricking myself, I tried tapping into my fear reflex, I've practised, nothing works. At least my potions grades are picking up, but transfiguration obstinately refuses to work properly for me," she growled.

"You'll get there," Yvette said encouragingly, "it's only November, you've got plenty of time before exams."

"But not plenty of time before the first challenge; it's _today_ , Liane. If Weasley and I get knocked out and you need to transfigure something, what do you intend to do?" Remy asked.

"Hey!" Scorpius exclaimed darkly.

"Sorry, Malfoy, you know I love you man, but you have to admit, your transfiguration scores aren't much better than Liane's, and who do _you_ think will make strides in one afternoon?" Remy said.

"I'll just have to make sure you stay safe, then," Liane replied, before Scorpius could say anything.

"These challenges aren't going to be easy, Liane; even compared with the qualifiers, these will be tough," Remy said.

"Why do people keep saying that? Do I look like I've _ever_ wanted to do things the easy way?" Liane asked, turning to Remy.

"No, I guess not," they replied, smiling.

A short time later, the carriages had all filled up and the doors were closed. Liane barely felt the movement as the carriages started forward, recognising they were moving only when she heard the loud, thunderous crash of the giant wings arcing through the air, and the carriage lifted off the rail track and into the sky.

James had come to their compartment along with fellow competitors George Dover and Wyatt Tonkin, as well as their companions, other friends whom Liane had seen hanging around the boys at Duellers events and Gryffindor parties. He and Roxanne had procured from somewhere a miniature model of a quidditch pitch where tiny figures on broomsticks, coloured in red and white, actually hung in the air over the top, and they were taking turns directing the movement of their respective teams, like a game of three dimensional chess where all the pieces on a side could move together. It put Liane in mind of a magical version of the tabletop strategy games she'd seen in game shops back in muggle London, and she assumed there were enchantments at play ensuring fair games. Elsewhere Remy was being thoroughly beaten at wizard's chess by Bertie, who was ecstatic at having finally found something that Remy would actually get frustrated at.

"This is impossible," Remy growled as their pieces once more magically rehealed themselves as Bertie crushed their king.

"Hardly," Victoire said, lounging nearby, "he's just too many moves ahead of you."

" _That's_ what I'm finding impossible," Remy retorted, and Bertie gave them a dark look, but laughed a moment later anyway.

The noise level was high enough that Liane had found it impossible to focus on her book, although she felt she had the hang of a few of the spells in it nonetheless. Instead she closed it up and stood, stretching.

"Do you think there's any food?" she asked, turning to Yvette.

"I don't know; we're four hours flight out of Montpelier, so I assume there will be something for lunch," she replied.

"I'm going to go for a walk, anyway, you want to come with?" Liane asked.

Yvette nodded, and the two of them exited their compartment to explore the rest of the carriage.

Even including the prodigious size of the carriage from the outside, there must have been an enormous quantity of undetectable extension charms on them as well, as the inside was like a stately home. They passed the other bottom floor compartment, where the rest of the second year competitors and the third years were clustered, and headed up a spiral, wrought-iron staircase to the next floor.

The second floor housed three compartments, for the fourth, fifth and sixth year teams and their companions. Although Liane had wanted to stop by and say hello to the fifth-year team, Yvette had insisted they push forward, and so they went up to the top level, the entirety of which was made available to the seventh years.

The top floor had separate, closed off rooms that each contestant and companion could adjourn to for privacy or to rest, but the main floor was a palatial hall like an Edwardian ballroom, with banquet tables and a number of different seating areas.

"Wow," Liane said, stepping out and looking around.

"Langford! How's it going?" asked a voice, and the two girls turned to see Lion looking over at them from a nearby table.

"Hey, Lion," Liane said, waving.

"How's this carriage, huh? The charm work on this is magnificent; Mietta and I were arguing over who was responsible for it, Flitwick or Delacroix," he said as the two of them walked over.

Liane turned to Yvette.

"What do you think; it look like your mother's handiwork?" she asked.

Yvette nodded. "There's certainly an element of her style to it," she replied.

"Oh," said Lion, "so you're the Charms Mistress' daughter, uh, Yvonne?"

"Yvette," she replied.

"Yvette, right; Mietta was talking about your Advanced Charms class earlier, was telling me about everything you lot are doing. So you're here as, what, Liane's companion?" he asked.

"Yeah, something like that," Liane replied. "So who did you bring, if Tania was already coming as a competitor?" she asked.

"My younger sister; hey, Mandy, come over here," he shouted, and a young girl with a wild mane of black hair and sparkling brown eyes turned to look at them. She was no older than thirteen, but had so much of a resemblance to her older brother that she could have passed for two or three years older.

"What?" she replied tersely.

"I want you to meet some people," he said in an exasperated voice.

"Fine," she drawled, pulling herself up from the couch and sauntering over. Liane couldn't help but notice, borne from all her private lessons with Wanda, that Mandy walked with a very careful bearing, every swaggering step perfectly balanced, as so were she to fall over she would tuck into a roll. She was lithe, too, and Liane guessed she was likely a gymnast or something else highly physical.

"Mandy, this is Liane Langford, the winner of the Dueller's entry competition, and Yvette Delacroix, Professor Delacroix's daughter," Lion said.

"I know who they are, Pat," Mandy said, "I saw the qualifiers, as did three quarters of the school. These two fought the wyrmling even though they weren't meant to."

"Uh, yeah, that's them," Lion said, looking somewhat taken aback.

"A pleasure to meet you," Liane said, holding out a hand, and Mandy shook it.

"Pleasure's all mine," she said with a toothy smile that Liane's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to.

"So, Mandy, why are you not competing?" Liane asked.

Mandy frowned. "I didn't make the cut," she said slightly bitterly, "I got pipped at the post by Baxter. Sixth place out of forty or so students, and I only get to come and watch because my older brother brought me along."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise."

"No," she sighed, "it's fine. Quinn is a good student, and a brilliant witch, I'm sure she'll do fine. And Carver, Reiner, Gordon and Watkins are top notch, I don't begrudge them their places."

"I keep telling you, if you were a Dueller…" Lion began, but stopped when Mandy glared at him.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, why _aren't_ you a Dueller?" Yvette asked.

"Mandy...Doesn't approve. She thinks the Duellers are too militaristic, says we're dangerously influential amongst the student body," Lion explained.

"I'm sorry to ask but, is that not a _good_ thing? Isn't the whole point of Duellers to make sure there is no need for a hastily constructed Order of the Phoenix next time a dark lord arises?" Liane asked.

"Except the culture of Duellers-the whole brotherhood of war mentality-is the perfect environment to create a new threat. If there's one thing we all should know from Muggle Studies it's that not every villain is as cartoonishly evil as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; sometimes, they're just a person who sees the world as flawed, but tries to fix it through force," Mandy replied.

"Which I might agree with, except there is no continuous leadership; no one figurehead to rally the members around, except Hogwarts itself. There is no cult without a cult leader," Lion replied, with the exasperated sigh of someone who had said the same line over and over.

"It only takes one person to consider 'getting the band back together' outside of Hogwarts to be the first flurry of snow down the mountainside," Mandy replied.

"What about pre-empting that?" Liane asked.

"What?" Mandy replied.

"I mean, what if you _did_ start an ex-Duellers organisation outside of Hogwarts, but you started with a charter and Ministry oversight, making it more like a reserves organisation?" Liane asked.

"You'd rely on the Ministry to take a group full of combat trained magic users and ensure that their strength is not used to corrupt ends?" Mandy asked incredulously.

"I'd rely on Harry Potter," Liane replied, "and Ron Weasley and Aunt Susan. The DMLE would be ideal to oversee a private citizen organisation tailored towards the protection of the public."

"Where would those resources come from? The DMLE is stretched thin enough as it is," Mandy asked.

Liane shrugged. "I don't know; I've only just thought of it. And, you know, I'm eleven; there's still a lot of time before I'm in any place to affect laws."

"Merlin, you are, aren't you; I forget that sometimes," Lion said, running his fingers through his hair.

Liane shrugged. "That happens to me a lot," she replied. Her head twitched to the side as her eyes fell upon a familiar shape in the corner.

"Is that a piano?" she asked. Lion and Mandy turned to look.

"Yeah, it is; do you play?" Lion asked.

"Yeah, I do actually," Liane replied, walking over to the instrument. It was a sleek, shiny black ten-foot concert grand, and Liane had to basically lean against the stool to reach both the keys and the pedals at the same time. She fingered the keys absently for a moment, testing the action and resistance in each note, before she started to play a few chords.

"You're not bad," Lion said with a smile, leaning against the inside curve of the piano.

"Thanks; my mother teaches piano and singing, and she leads a small community orchestra. I've been learning both; since I was old enough to talk I've been singing, and I've been playing for four years," Liane replied.

"Do you know anything from memory?" Mandy asked. Liane nodded, and started to play the opening to Billy Joel's "Lullaby".

" _Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes_ ," Liane began, and several pairs of eyes turned towards them as she continued. Yvette joined Liane on the melody, her breathy, high tone contrasting slightly with Liane's more solid mezzo-soprano. The two of them turned and smiled as Mandy and Lion, both apparently very competent singers as well, joined in with improvised tenor and alto harmonies. They continued for a few minutes together, crooning through the song for as long as Liane could remember the chords, before trailing off as Liane lost track of where to go next and pulled her hands from the keys.

Scattered applause from the others sitting around the room made Liane blush and stand up, brushing her hands against her robes.

"That was fun," Mandy said with a smile, the first genuine one Liane had seen since meeting the girl.

"Yeah, it was," Liane agreed, "but we should probably get back to the others, they'll be wondering where we went."

"Fair enough. Tell you what though, Langford, you can come around next time we're jamming, Yvette too. There's not nearly enough music at Hogwarts," Lion said, and Liane nodded.

"That sounds great," she replied, and the two of them then said their goodbyes and headed back downstairs.

The remainder of the trip took another few hours, with a lunch served midway that finally satisfied Liane's appetite-she had forgotten to grab any food whilst upstairs.

As they arrived in the south of France, off the coast of Montpelier, Beauxbatons Academy came into view. Strictly speaking, it wasn't in Montpelier itself; the brigadoon-like island flittered around the French coast at a whim. The academy itself dominated the southern half of the island, but there was a small village on the northern tip that Liane assumed was the french school's equivalent to Hogsmeade. Where Hogwarts was a large, classically gothic castle, Beauxbatons was a palace more in line with the Versailles court; large gardens, glass and white marble buildings and shallow pools led a touch of elegance to the whole affair.

"Oh, _mon dieu,_ it's even more beautiful than they described," Yvette whispered, looking out the window.

"Than who?" Liane asked, confused.

"Well, you know I would have gone here had my father not gotten a job with the British ministry; well, some friends of mine are attending, and we exchange letters. A lot of them are dying to meet you, as it happens," Yvette said, a touch of red colouring her cheeks.

"Oh; what have you told them?" Liane asked with a note of poorly masked concern.

"Good things," Yvette said with a smile, and said no more.

The carriages dropped to the ground, coming to a stop with barely a bump as they touched down. Liane was a little surprised to find that they had dropped down nearer to the village than to the school, but had no time to ask as Professor's Macmillan and Delacroix arrived to shepherd the students out of the carriages and onto the lawns, where a delegation from Beauxbatons stood waiting to greet them. McGonagall and Longbottom strode to the front of the crowd as the other professors arranged the Hogwarts students into neat lines, where they were met by a gigantic woman dressed in fur-lined robes of periwinkle blue.

"Madam Maxime, might I present to you the competitors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" McGonagall said in a loud, clear voice.

"Beauxbatons welcomes and honours the students from Hogwarts," the other woman, Maxime, replied, her thick accent making Yvette's, by comparison, seem positively English.

As they stood, there was a tremendous roar of ocean spray, and Liane turned to look, startled, as did many of the younger students. Rising from the water, near the quay attached to the village, appeared a tall ship, it's dark wooden masts appearing first with their sails of burgundy fluttering in the breeze, sending out a mist of water droplets that shone rainbows onto the deck as it appeared below. The railings and prow were carved with the heads of wolves and bears, and the figurehead was a snarling head of a wolf with fierce, intelligent eyes. As Liane looked, she realised the carvings were enchanted to move, and the eyes of the figurehead turned balefully onto the assembled students of Beauxbatons and Hogwarts. Rising from the cabins below came scores of students in robes of black and grey fur, at the head of which was a ruggedly handsome man with a low brow and a square, stubble-lined jaw. Most interestingly, behind the man in front strode a trio of older students who all carried brooms with them, one holding two.

"Oh my…" Albus breathed, and Liane turned to look.

"What's up?" she asked.

"It's Viktor Krum, ex-Seeker for Belgium's National Quidditch team-"

"And past Durmstrang Tri-Wizard champion. Interesting," Liane said, looking once more at the man. If Durmstrang had a former World Cup competitive Quidditch player for a headmaster, Liane was interested to see what the quality of flyers were at the Northern school.

As the students of Durmstrang made their way up the road from the quay to the lawns, Krum moved forward to stand with Maxime and McGonagall.

"Madame Maxime, I present the champions of Durmstrang College of Sorcery," Krum said in a low, sonorous voice.

"Beauxbatons welcomes and honours the students of Durmstrang. Please, follow me inside, that we might get the proceedings underway," Madam Maxime said, before turning to her own students. The Beauxbatons delegation parted before her as she walked towards the doors, and as she passed they filled in the wake in double lines, following the headmistress inside. McGonagall and Longbottom were next, and Liane was surprised to find herself at the head of the line with Yvette, being thrust out by Professor Macmillan as the first competitor, alphabetically by year level, Scorpius and Olivia falling in behind. Liane shot a glance behind to see the Durmstrang students following the Hogwarts contingent, and the three cohorts of students made their way through the glassy front doors of Beauxbatons academy.

Inside they were led to a large hall, the glass windows looking out onto the gardens and the ocean just beyond. The hall was decorated with lavish gold and silver trimmings, wooden furniture and ornately carved fixtures and an enormous circle of tables, decorated in thirds of the various school colours, and set so that a large open space separated each setting from those directly in front. As they were shown to their seats, Liane noticed Yvette looking around anxiously.

"Can't see your friends?" Liane asked, and Yvette shook her head.

"They're not here," she said disappointed. Liane shrugged.

"It may just be because of the seating; see how the tables are arranged? I'd be amazed if the three delegations all could be seated, let alone the entire school."

"They won't," Victoire said behind them, "the seats are for professors and competitors only. I assume this is an official welcome, and everyone will be invited to dinner instead."

"What makes you say that?" Liane asked.

"The numbers; four hundred seats, three hundred and fifteen competitors, and I guessed the rest. The Hogwarts delegation is nearly big enough to fit every seat, let alone the other two schools," Victoire explained.

"You counted four hundred seats in, what, ninety seconds?" Liane asked with a raised eyebrow. Before Victoire responded, however, Professor Macmillan came by to direct Liane and the other competitors to seats, and their companions to stand near the wall. As Liane took her seat between Professor Longbottom and Scorpius, she glanced at the other students who were taking seats. All of the Durmstrang students, two boys and a girl, who had been carrying brooms were seated at the table, leading Liane to think they were probably the Durmstrang equivalent of the Hogwarts STAs. The Beauxbatons students all took their seats, with Madame Maxime, Viktor Krum and Headmistress McGonagall taking the three high-backed thrones at the head of the room.

"Welcome, champions," Madam Maxime announced, her voice ringing out across the room and bringing the susurrus of chattering students to a tense silence.

"The first Tri-School Magical Olympiad honours the efforts of Champions past through the ancient Triwizard Tournament. Those students who put their lives on the line for the honour of the schools they represented have all been recognised as being the best and brightest, and their great efforts will echo into history.

"But, in recent history there has been a change in the views of the many among the magical community. Where we once praised heroes, we now look to ourselves, to each other, to make heroes of us all. Where once we cheered for one champion, now we strive to be champions together. It is in this spirit that the Olympiad was forged," Madam Maxime announced, and Liane nodded along. It was a more eloquent reasoning along the same line as the Duellers; _don't rely on others to do what you wouldn't do yourself_.

"So tonight, before we break and meet one another as friends, and before tomorrow where we will clash as rivals, let us pause to think of those who stood together as brothers and sisters in arms; at the Battle of Hogwarts, at the Lang Natt, against L'enfants de la Blanc, and other such horrors of the modern age," McGonagall added.

While everyone bowed their heads, the older students thinking of those they'd lost, Liane took a moment to remind herself to look into the other events McGonagall had mentioned, before her thoughts turned to Susan. Her aunt had lost so much during the battle, but had in the aftermath discovered family she'd never known, including Liane herself. It had been an awful time, to be sure, but in a small, ashamed part of her mind, Liane was thankful for it.

The dinner that followed was a light, quiet affair, with the school representatives separated as they were, and lasted only half an hour before Krum stood up to make the final address.

"We will now adjourn to the gardens, where we will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the delegations of the other schools; Beauxbatons Academy have graciously prepared further refreshments and appointed a number of hosts from among their students to attend to any questions you might have." As he finished, the headmaster nodded to his students, who stood up formally, prompting the Beauxbatons and Hogwarts students to follow suite. Turning to the two headmistresses, he reached out his hand and Madam Maxime graciously took it, rising from her seat to tower well above Krum. A professor from Beauxbatons took Headmistress McGonagall's hand as well, and they lead the delegations out to the gardens, where the rest of the Academy students were already standing around, chatting with each other. As the three rows of competitors exited the wide double doors, there was a polite smattering of applause, before the professors fell out of step with the students and everyone relaxed out of their lines.

Before she'd taken two steps Liane felt a hand grasping her upper arm and suddenly she was being dragged forward by Yvette who was beaming and looking towards the crowd of Beauxbatons students.

" _Belle copine!_ " came a voice from the crowd, and a young woman rushed forward and hurled herself at Yvette, wrapping her arms around her and kissing her on the cheek.

"Marie! Oh Marie, _tu m'as manqué!_ " Yvette cried, letting go of Liane and clutching the other girl tight. Behind her came three others, two more girls and a boy, and Yvette's eyes, tear studded, took them all in.

"Marc! Angelique! Celeste! It's so good to see you all," Yvette said as Marie let go.

" _Salut_ Yvette, _ca va_?" asked the boy (Marc, Liane supposed).

" _Ca va bien- tres bien! C'est mon ami_ Liane," Yvette said, turning to grab Liane's hand and pull her forward.

One of the girls looked at Liane and smiled.

" _Ton ami? Ou votre loulotte?_ " she asked.

Yvette's face went bright red, and shook her head.

"Uh, sorry to be the idiot Brit but I don't speak French, what's going on?" Liane asked.

Yvette shot the girl who had spoken a quick glare, then smiled and turned back to Liane.

"Liane, these are my friends Marie, Marc, Angelique and Celeste," Yvette said, introducing them one by one. Liane looked them over.

Marie was a good few inches shorter than Yvette, putting her about the level of Liane's chin, but she was round-faced and had shining, dark eyes and brown hair that was almost black. Marc looked the oldest of the group, olive-skinned and with a fop of chestnut hair that bounced around his left eye and high, prominent cheekbones. Angelique was blonde, and looked a lot like a younger Victoire Weasley, while Celeste was dark-skinned and had feathered hair of firetruck red and stood taller even than Liane. None of them were quite the same standard of attractiveness as Yvette, as far as Liane was concerned, but they were not terribly plain either.

"Liane Langford, pleased to meet you all," Liane said, giving a nervous little wave.

"Oh, we've heard about you; Yvette's letters are full of your escapades," Marc said, and Yvette went red-faced again and glared, while Angelique punched him in the arm.

" _Tais-toi, môme,_ " she growled, and Marc laughed and rubbed his arm.

"Really, 'escapades', huh?" Liane said, turning a sly glance towards Yvette, "I hope there's nothing I should be worried about?"

" _Non_ , they are quite positive," Marie said, smiling sweetly, "we're all very excited to meet you, and the rest of Yvette's English friends."

"Speaking of," Liane said, looking around. Albus and Victoire were standing with Professor Weasley and a blonde woman Liane supposed was his wife, Victoire's mother. With them was another woman, who looked much like the first albeit a few years younger perhaps, as well as a blonde girl about Liane's age.

"Emilie Delacour, one of your competitors," Celeste said, following Liane's line of sight.

"Delacour? Isn't that-" Liane began, but Yvette was shaking her head.

"The last Beauxbatons champion was Fleur Delacour, Victoire Weasley's mother. Emilie is the daughter of Gabrielle Delacour, Fleur's younger sister and a professor at Beauxbatons," Yvette explained. Liane turned a questioning glance at her and she shrugged, "Victoire filled me in on the way over," she explained.

"Well, that answers my next two questions as well, I guess. So, you know much about the Beauxbatons teams?" Liane asked, turning to the group.

"We do," Marc said with a vulpine grin.

Liane waited a moment for more information, but when none was forthcoming she shrugged.

"It was worth a shot," she said with a smile.

"I can say that you'd better hope that everything Yvette has said about you is true; the team is strong," Angelique replied, and Liane's grin widened.

"Oh, I think we'll be okay," she replied.

The remainder of the evening passed and Liane and Yvette introduced her french friends to Bertie, Remy, Scorpius, Olivia and Albus, the group walking around the gardens and discussing the various qualifier trials and their guessing for the upcoming event. The only clue that they were able to get was that a small hillock and an archway had appeared in the south of the island, leading into a cave.

"Caves? Why did it have to be caves?" Liane mumbled, to looks of confusion from their new french companions and sniggers of laughter from the others. Other than that there was nothing to clue them into what they had in store the next day. When the evening drew late and the professors came looking for them all, Liane and the others from Hogwarts bade farewell to their new friends and they returned to the carriages to sleep. While they had been at the Academy reception the internal makeup of the carriages had been re-charmed and replaced the large function rooms with a more classical train carriage setup, with long hallways and multiple compartments, although the compartments were each the size of bedrooms and housed luxurious bunk beds for each competitor and their companion. Liane bid goodnight to the others and she and Yvette made their way to the compartment with Liane's name engraved on the the door, and inside they found their luggage had already been moved there.

"I like your friends," Liane said as she hoisted herself up onto the top bunk, kicking her shoes across the room.

" _Merci_ , I think they liked you as well. I cannot wait to sit with them and watch you compete tomorrow," Yvette replied, sitting at the edge of the lower bunk.

"Well, we'll see how that goes. It should be...very interesting," Liane said, looking up at the ceiling of her compartment. While she listened to Yvette changing into her pajamas and getting into bed below her, Liane's mind flashed back to the small, platinum-blonde figure of Emilie Delacour, and wondering just what the quality of her competition was going to be.


	19. Chapter 19: The First Event

Chapter 19: The First Event

Liane woke early the next morning, a mixture of habit and excitement pushing her out the door, where she found Booker, Jeremy and a smattering of other competitors and their companions stretching before heading off.

"Liane!" Booker said with a smile, which Liane returned as she approached.

"Hey," she said, zipping up her tracksuit. Although the Academy was a lot further south than Scotland, it was early and mid-spring, so there was still a chill in the air.

"You coming for a run? Professor Delacroix and someone from Beauxbatons is showing us a good path around the island that won't cut into breakfast," Jeremy asked. Liane nodded.

"Of course," she replied, and followed Booker and Jeremy up to the gardens, where Yvette's mother was standing with a male teacher from Beauxbatons. With them were Mietta and Lion, Anderson, Tania, James Potter, Quinn Baxter, Rhett Carver, Farrah Mandelay, Ben Carver, Angelica Watkins, Sarah Westlake and Tyrion Wilder, and four more that Liane didn't recognise. It was nowhere near all the competitors, and Liane was definitely the youngest, but it was a sizeable group nonetheless, and Liane suddenly wished that there was some kind of magical equivalent to an MP3 player that she could use while she ran.

As she was thinking of suggesting something like that to Lion, Professor Delacroix stepped forward to address the group.

"Hi all, nice to see you up and about so early; I know you're excited to get to it later today. This is Professor Michel Devaux, he will be leading us on a track around the island. For today, while we get to know our way around, I want everyone to stay together; once we've got the layout you can take this at your own pace, and in your own groups," she explained, and Liane looked at the other professor and sized him up. He was tall, handsome in a manner of speaking, with high-cheekbones and olive skin. In fact, he looked a lot like Marc, Yvette's friend, which Liane put as meaning he was likely the boy's father, or related in some way, which might also explain how Yvette knew Marc prior to starting her schooling.

While she was lost in thought, Liane missed the last few words before Professor Devaux took off, followed in dribs and drabs by the Hogwarts students, Professor Delacroix waiting back to take up the rear of the group. Liane fell into step a short way behind Booker and Jeremy, focussing on stretching her legs as she built up her momentum.

As they began to turn downhill towards the coast of the island, Mandy Lyman sidled up next to Liane.

"Hi there," she said, and Liane started for a moment before smiling.

"Hey."

"You excited?"

Liane paused, choosing her words between breaths.

"I'm looking forward to it," she replied.

"Any ideas?" Mandy asked.

"All I know is that it's underground; some of Yvette's friends have seen the entrance."

"Underground, huh? You suppose it's a maze?"

Liane shrugged.

"Could be, although if Hogwarts are in charge of designing the challenges I'd be surprised if it's something so similar to the last Tournament," she replied.

"Good point," Mandy conceded.

They ran together for a short time in silence, looking out across the morning-sunlight-dappled ocean and the coast of Montpelier off on the horizon.

"So, what year are you in?" Liane asked.

"Third, same as Rhett and Quinn," Mandy replied, and Liane nodded.

"That's right, you did mention them when I asked about whether you were competing," Liane said, and Mandy glanced sideways at her.

"Why do you ask?"

Liane felt a blush start to creep onto her cheeks, so she hurriedly changed the subject. "No reason, just curious I suppose. So do you know anyone here?"

Mandy shook her head. "No, but Pat has some friends who went to 'Strang a few years ago, I know them a little. What about you?"

"Not until yesterday, no; Yvette introduced me to a group of her friends last night."

"Yeah? What did you think?" Mandy asked.

"They're nice, they were certainly excited to see Yvette again," Liane replied.

"Close friends, huh?"

"Yeah, seemed that way."

Mandy didn't reply for a moment, and Liane wondered where the older girl's line of questioning was headed.

"You want a drink?" Mandy asked, changing the subject again.

"Huh?"

Mandy drew a bottle from the pocket of her hooded jumper, shaking it a little.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Liane replied, taking the bottle and taking a short sip of water.

"You should keep hydrated; you don't want to wear yourself out too early," Mandy said as Liane handed the bottle back.

"I doubt that will be a problem, but thanks anyway," Liane replied.

"Cool. Well, I'm gonna run on my own for a bit, I'll see you later," Mandy said with a smile, before she picked up speed and pulled ahead of Liane, settling into her rhythm about forty feet ahead of her. Liane watched the older girl move on and felt her mind start to swirl, and so rather than dwell on their conversation she turned her focus back to the road ahead of her and tried to clear her mind.

When Liane had returned to the carriages, showered and changed into her clean sports gear, her robes on over the top, she joined Yvette and the others as they headed to the Academy for breakfast, which would lead to the first event in mid-morning. Once they had eaten the competitors of each first year team were called away to the south garden, where a huge assortment of marquees had been erected around the small mound in the middle. Liane caught brief glimpses of view screens and the white marble archway before the three teams were led into a closed-off tent to one side.

"Okay, everyone, standard Tournament protocol; you'll be held here while each team competes, so you won't be able to watch what everyone else does during their turn. There will be some food and drink delivered shortly, and if you need anything else you can ask the proctors; Proctor Famke Erikson of Durmstrang, Proctor Henri Renier of Beauxbatons or Proctor Renee Delacroix of Hogwarts, who will be along shortly. Otherwise, feel free to mingle," Professor Longbottom said, before leaving them alone.

"Emilie, how are you?" Albus asked, waving at the blonde girl in the Beauxbatons team.

"Albus, Rose, so good to see you again," Emilie replied, strolling over and taking Albus' hands, giving them a quick squeeze, "I'm well, how are you?"

"I'm doing really well; here, I'll introduce you to the others; this is Liane Langford, Remy Scofield, and...um…" Albus said, floundering as he got to Scorpius.

"Scorpius Malfoy," Scorpius said, ignoring Albus' hesitation.

"Malfoy?" Emilie said, hesitating.

"Yes. I am not my father," Scorpius said coolly, and Emilie nodded.

"Hi, it's a pleasure," Liane said, attempting to break the tension.

"Very much a pleasure," Remy said, stepping forward and taking Emilie's hand, their hair turning shock white to match hers as they lightly kissed the back of her hand.

Emilie giggled and drew her hand away.

"The please is mine. These are my teammates; Victor Dubois, Vivienne Durand, Juliet Mercier and Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, whom we call JB," she replied, pointing to each one in turn. Victor was dark-skinned and looked quite like Yvette's friend Celeste, while all the rest were white, and he and Juliet were the tallest. Vivienne was small and had toned arms, making Liane think she might be a Quidditch player, but otherwise they were a lot more relaxed and casual than the Hogwarts group. Liane suspected there might not be any version of the Duellers at Beauxbatons, but that didn't mean she was going to underestimate them.

"What about you lot?" Rose asked, turning to the Durmstrang team. Four of them were boys, one girl, and all were tall, pale and brown haired. They looked over at the Hogwarts and Beauxbatons teams as Rose addressed them, but said nothing, turning back towards one another without response.

"Wow, rude," Remy muttered, and Emilie nodded.

After a short wait, during which time the steadily growing roar of the crowd of spectators outside grew in volume, the Proctors arrived, followed by a couple of tea trays laden with biscuits, tea, coffee and plenty of water bottles, and the three teams were called together.

"Can each team elect a captain to come and draw their number for their place in the order?" Professor Delacroix asked. One of the Durmstrang boys stepped forward immediately, with no word of complaint from the rest of his team, and after a moment of murmured discussion Vivienne Durand stepped forward for the Beauxbatons team.

Liane turned towards the others, expecting to elect Albus as captain, to find them all looking at her.

"What? No, why?" she asked, stepping back.

"Why not? You took charge during the qualifiers," Remy said.

"But...Albus, surely you-" she began, but Albus was shaking his head.

"I'm not afraid to say it, Liane, but you're smarter than me. You have that... _dangerous_ thinking that led you to top out the Dueller's entry," he replied.

"Rose? Scorpius? Remy?" Liane said, turning to the others.

"I hate to say it, but Potter has a point; we're all good at one thing or another, but you have a sense of the big picture that we lack. Being captain doesn't mean you're the best, but you are the best person to be captain," Remy replied.

Liane nodded, before turning back and stepping forward to stand as the captain for Hogwarts. Professor Delacroix held out a bag, and gestured for the captains to all put their hands it at once. Liane reached in, along with the other two boys, and found three small, smooth stones. Liane took one in her hand, and the others took the remaining two, before all three withdrew their hands to reveal the stones were brightly coloured; in Lianes hand was a blue stone bearing a solid black number two, in Vivienne's hand a bright red stone marked with a number one, and in the Durmstrang students was the number three stone, coloured green.

"Beauxbatons will take the first attempt, followed by Hogwarts and ending with Durmstrang. You will be led out to compete by a Proctor of an opposing school when the bell calls; the only clue to be given is that this is a time trial event, with scores awarded to the quickest completion of the trial by _all_ competitors. We should be ready to begin in about twenty minutes," Professor Renier of Beauxbatons explained. The proctors moved to the end of the tent to give the competitors more room once more and Liane turned back to her team.

"Second; not that it matters much I guess, if we aren't allowed to watch," Liane said, tossing the stone to Remy.

"Still better than last," Albus said with a shrug, and Liane smiled.

"True," she replied.

Time passed, and the Beauxbatons students were approached by Professor Erikson and led out to the cheering crowd. As the entrance to the tent was pulled open to let the first team through, Liane noticed the sound grow not only louder, but clearer as well.

"And there is the Beauxbatons Academy first year team, led by team captain Vivienne Durand-

"Et il y a l'équipe de première année l'Académie Beauxbâtons, dirigée par le capitaine de l'équipe Vivienne Durand-

"I tam na pŭrvata godina ot ekipa na Beauxbatons Academy, vodena ot kapitan Vivienne Durand-"

The milieu of voices, all jumbled together, lept out at Liane all of a sudden, and then fell back into a vague wash of noise as the entrance fell closed once more.

"Huh, the tent must have been enchanted to muffle sound," Liane muttered, and Scorpius nodded.

"Yeah, they're really making sure we have no idea what we're up against," he said coolly.

"That's a good thing, I guess," Liane said.

"Huh? Why's that?" Rose asked.

"Well, it implies that part of the test is working with surprise, that it's something we have to think quickly about. By not giving away anything about the challenge, it means we're expected to flounder a bit at the start; if we go in expecting that, we might be able to pull ourselves together quicker," Liane said, and the others thought on this silently for a moment.

"Or, it's something truly terrifying, and they don't want us worrying too much before we get in there," Remy suggested.

"Or that, I guess. Gee, thanks," Liane said sarcastically, throwing a ginger snap at Remy's head, which they dodged cleanly.

As they sat, listening to the muffled reaction of the crowd, moments of tense silence punctuated with loud cheers, Liane tried to keep track of the time in her head. When the siren finally went, she stood up.

"Thirty-five minutes, give or take," she said, and Rose nodded.

"I heard seven cheers; seven obstacles?" she asked, and Albus shrugged.

"Or seven excellent plays; we'll just have to wait and see," he replied. Shortly afterward, Professor Renier walked across to the Hogwarts team, who all turned to meet him.

"I am to lead you to the beginning of the course shortly. You will be announced, the siren will call for you to start, and you will enter the course. When all five of you touch your wands to the end zone, the timer will stop and you will be escorted to a separate tent to wait out the remainder of the event before your scores are posted. Are you all ready?" he asked, and there was a round of nods from the team.

"Okay, then, follow me please," he said, and led them outside.

The roar of the crowd was, if anything, louder than before; whatever muffling enchantment was on the tent had still dampened the noise somewhat when the Beauxbatons team had left.

"Here we have the first year squad from Hogwarts, an exciting team to be sure; Captained by Liane Langford, the team includes Albus Potter, one of the children of Harry Potter, former Triwizard Champion. It also includes Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy, well known last names for those who know their recent history, as well as relative unknown metamorphmagus Remy Scofield," called out the announcer, a student Liane didn't recognise.

As they made their way through the crowd of tents to the archway, Liane felt a knot of excitement build up in her throat, and she couldn't help but smile. The proctor led them to a line drawn just ahead of the archway, and directed them all to stand with their toes on the line.

"When the siren goes, you may proceed," Professor Renier said, before he left them alone, the five students separated from the crowd by a small stretch of garden, momentarily isolated. From here, the archway loomed larger than Liane had predicted, and she had to swallow hard to push the knot back down her throat.

As the crowd slowly fell quiet, the last few chattering students drifting away, there was a moment of silence.

With a suddenness that sent a shock down her spine, the siren blew, and Liane ran forward, leading the others through the arch and into the dimly lit cave.

Passing over the threshold, Liane slowed down, the others stopping beside her. The cave, it seemed, was enchanted to remove sound as well, although this time it left them in complete silence.

" _Lumos_ ," Liane cast, holding up her wand, and the inside of the cave was lit up, the others following suit. The floor of the cave curved down underground, and Liane had an uneasy feeling of familiarity with the scene.

"Keep an eye out; tight caves like this are likely rife with traps-" Liane began, but was cut short when the silence was punctuated by a harsh chorus of chittering laughs.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Not sure; didn't sound human," Albus said, waving his wand back and forth.

"Rose, come up to the front with me," Liane said, before lowering her wand, " _nox, vudenuit,_ " she cast, replacing her light spell for the night vision. Holding her head away from the lights of the others, Liane turned back.

"Stay together, stay tight, two eyes forward and one back. Rose, you and I will lead with shields prepped," she ordered, and the others nodded. As Rose dispelled her light, Liane cast another night sight spell on her and the two of them moved on ahead.

The cackling came again, and Liane saw a flicker of movement deeper in the tunnel.

"I think we've got something," she called out, and Rose nodded.

"I saw it too," she agreed, stepping forward.

"Guys, Liane, Rose, wait," Scorpius called out, and the two girls stopped short.

"What?"

"Something's up with Remy, they've stopped moving," Scorpius replied, and Liane turned to look at her friend too suddenly, cursing the light and dispelling her nightvision as she did.

"Remy? What's up, what's happening?" Liane asked. As she approached, she saw that Remy's eyes, face and hair had gone a sickly pale, and they were shaking.

"I...I know that sound...I've heard it before," they replied.

"You have? What is it?" Albus asked.

"I...I was six, with my family on holiday in Schwarza. I left the villa we'd been renting and wandered off into the forest, when I heard them," they stammered.

"What, what are they?" Liane asked. The cackling rang through the cavern again, this time sounding like it was closer than before.

"Erklings; larger than elves and nastier than goblins, they _eat_ children," Remy said, turning their terrified eyes to Liane.

Liane span around, her wand raised up by her ear in a maho no geijutsu stance, and caught a glimpse of the creatures, hiding in the shadows, the light glinting off their green eyes. Their heads were long and pointed, and their clawed hands and feet gripped to the walls and ceiling of the cave with ease.

"We've got your back here, Remy; stick together and they can't hurt us," Liane said coolly, and Rose nodded.

"Liane, cover me," she said, before flicking her wand forward, " _incendio_."

" _Prismatis_ ," Liane cast, projecting a prism shield around Rose as the fire bolt lept at the nearest Erkling, sending it scurrying back down the cave.

"Come on, guys, we can push them back into the cave; there's got to be an end to it somewhere," Liane called back, and with nods the others deactivated their light spells, leaving only the faint blue glow of Liane's shield, which then faded away as Liane turned her wand on her friends, recasting the night-sight spell on each one. It was barely a few minutes into the challenge, and already Liane was feeling the toll of constant spellwork.

"Okay, you three, take the lead, shoot at anything that moves. Conserve your energy; using pinching hexes where you can, we just need to cluster them together," Liane ordered, nodding to Rose, Albus and Scorpius, "Remy, hang back with me, we need to be ready to cover them if they need to fall back."

Remy nodded, a look of relief in their face, while the other three stood shoulder-to-shoulder and began to move down the tunnel.

Deeper and deeper they marched, until at last they found themselves in a large, open area.

"Hold up," Liane said, stepping forward, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Same; after Rose shot at that first one, we haven't fired a single spell; they see us and scamper away immediately. This seems too easy," Scorpius said, his eyes scanning the chamber.

"Liane, you know what this place reminds me of?" Remy said, looking around.

Liane nodded, "I was just thinking that. We should back up, I think this is a-" she began, but as Remy stepped forward there was a loud crunching sound followed by a heavy thud, and a wall of stone closed off the tunnel behind them, sealing them inside the chamber.

"-trap," Liane grumbled.

"The Erklings?" Rose asked.

"I think they were a decoy, or a lure, or something. To get us in this deep," Albus replied.

"Why, though? We were already running in to compete," Liane asked.

Albus shrugged.

"It could also be psychological; put us on the back foot right from the start, maybe waste a few spells early?" Scorpius suggested.

As though reading his mind, the cavern began to rumble; a deep, animal sound that sent shivers down Liane's spine.

"We're definitely not alone down here," Albus moaned, and Liane let out a hiss.

"You know what I miss?" she asked.

"What?" Remy asked.

Before Liane could respond, there was another rumble, and coming into view appeared a large, hulking beast with horns that curved forward.

"My sword," Liane lamented.

"Is that a-" Rose stammered.

"It's a Graphorn!" Remy shouted.

"You sure?" Scorpius asked.

"Hello, my best friend is the defence teacher's son, I know my magical beasts. _That_ is a Graphorn," Remy replied.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Liane asked, "what do we use?"

"You can't use anything; Graphorn hide resists spells more readily than trolls, more readily than _dragons_. Your spells will bounce right off it, even if you hit it in the eye or the throat," Remy explained.

"Then we don't use spells; Rose, your transfiguration charms are the strongest, is there anything we can throw at it?" Liane asked.

"I can turn solid matter into small animals, like with the drillfish I did back in the Duellers event," Rose replied, "I could try and swarm it with, I don't know, rats or something?"

"Good enough; Scorpius, Albus, cover Rose, make sure she's protected. Don't bother with shields, it will just charge through them," Liane ordered.

"How-" Albus began, but Scorpius cut him off.

"We've got it covered, Liane," he said.

"Remy, with me; we're going to draw its attention," Liane said.

"How?"

"We might not be able to hurt it, but we can piss it off. Come on!"

With that, Liane and Remy broke left, skirting the edge of the cavern, putting distance between themselves and the rest of the team.

"How fast is it?" Liane asked.

"They can charge forward at a decent pace, but I don't think they turn well," Remy replied.

"Okay, follow my lead. _Frigidiero_ ," Liane cast, replicating her tactic from Duellers by sending a large sheet of ice forward across the stone floor of the cavern. Remy followed suit, and soon there was a massive layer of thick, smooth ice around them. Liane turned her wand towards the Graphorn, took in a deep breath, and fired off the strongest spell she could think of.

" _Flipendo Maxima_ ," she cast, and a rocketing shockwave burst forward, tearing up stone and dirt around the Graphorn but splashing harmlessly against the creature's hide.

Nevertheless, it had the desired effect, and the beast turned its small, glazed eyes towards Liane and Remy with a look of stunned contempt. Letting out a bellowing roar, the Graphorn began to trundle towards the two of them, picking up speed as it lowered its massive head. Liane grabbed Remy's hand and stood still, watching the glinting horns bearing down on them. Suddenly, the Graphorn stumbled, and shot towards the two first-years on the icy floor. Liane turned, hurling herself shoulders backward onto the ground, and pointed her wand towards her feet.

" _Ventus Maxima_ ," she cast, and a huge blast of frigid air shot from her wand, skidding Liane and Remy across the ice and out of the Graphorn's path. When they reached the end of the frozen patch the two separated, rolling across the ground until they slowed to a stop, and a loud thud rumbled around the room as the Graphorn hit the wall. There was a roiling wail as the Graphorn tried to climb to its feet, only to slip on the ice over and over, before the shrieking of rodents joined the fray. Liane looked over to see Albus, Scorpius and Rose running to join them, and a small swarm of rats harrying the fallen beast.

"That's it distracted, good work," Liane said as she pushed herself up, "but what now?"

"Over here," Scorpius shouted, stopping in the middle of the room. The others rushed to join him and quickly saw what he had found.

"A trapdoor," Remy said, frowning.

"No sense in worrying about it now, in, in, in!" Liane yelled, and Scorpius grabbed the brass ring and hauled the trapdoor open. Albus helped Rose down first, then jumped in himself, and Remy followed. Liane and Scorpius looked at one another for a moment.

"Go," Scorpius said, "I'll pull this closed behind me."

"You sure-" Liane began, but Scorpius glared.

"Go!" he repeated, and Liane nodded, jumping down through the trapdoor.


	20. Chapter 20: A History Lesson

Authors Note:

Hi everyone, sorry it's been so long between updates, it's been a hard year between back problems and medication issues, etc. on top of coursework. Just a couple more months to go and I should be done with my course and able to put more focus into projects like this one. 

Also, a quick plug for my wordpress site where you can get updates and snippets of other stuff; .com.

* * *

Chapter 20: A History Lesson

Liane began to fall, suddenly submerged in darkness, her night-vision spell disappearing as she passed through the trapdoor. Although she fell for three, maybe four seconds, she already felt her body begin to tense up in anticipation of the bone-shattering end. Instead, however, she hit a spongy surface that compressed beneath her, and it took Liane a full five seconds to realise that she was unharmed. She heard another thump off to one side, and flinched away from it, thinking Scorpius was about to land on top of her, but there was nothing further, save for a few muffled grumbles. At last, she pushed herself upright, looking around herself despite the blinding darkness.

"Is everyone alright?" came Albus' voice from out the darkness.

"I'm fine," Liane replied.

"Us too," came Rose and Remy's reply.

Liane felt a hand brush her arm, and she reached up and grabbed it.

"Liane, that you?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah, that's me; you okay?"

"I'm fine," Scorpius replied, giving Liane's hand a quick squeeze.

Liane returned the squeeze, before letting go and pushing herself to her feet.

"What have we landed on?" she asked.

There was a shuffling of movement as everyone located their wands, and the light spells lit up the room.

"Some kind of moss or lichen or something, from what I can see," Remy replied.

"It's extremely thick; it has to be _at most_ a year old, so there's something magical about it," Albus said, pulling a chunk from the ground and holding it up. After a second, though, he yelped and dropped it.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked.

"It, ow, _ow_ , it burns," Albus said, whimpering, holding out his hand with his wand light held over it. Along his palm and fingers were raw, red welts, and there was an oily coating that was still dripping across his arm, burning more skin as it did.

" _Nox, aguamenti,_ " Liane cast, pouring water into Albus' hand and spraying the acidic oil off his skin.

" _Nox, episkey_ ," Rose followed up, healing Albus' hand.

"Thanks, _ow_ that hurt," Albus said as Liane and Rose re-lit their wands.

"Uh, guys," Remy said, sniffing, "you smell that?"

Liane sniffed, and was assaulted by the smell of burning leather.

"What is-" she began, before Rose yelped and jumped backwards.

"It's eating through our shoes," she cried.

" _Incendio_ ," Liane cast, sending a fireball to the ground. When it touched the moss the oils ignited, and Liane was forced to step backward as the flames roared upward.

"Dammit," she growled, " _aguam-_ "

"Liane! Stop!" Scorpius yelled, and Liane turned to see Scorpius raising his own wand.

" _Exanimus,_ " he cast, and a sphere appeared around the flames. The fire rushed to fill the sphere before suddenly failing, extinguishing the flames.

"Oil fire plus water, not good," he grumbled.

"Fair point," Liane replied, before turning back to the moss, " _frigidiero_ ," she cast, and a layer of frost caked over the surface of the plant.

"Anyone see a way out?" Albus asked.

"There's a door over there, on the other side of the room; I can see the outline," Remy yelled, pointing out the sliver of orange light.

Casting frost spells ahead of them, they ran, slipping and sliding across the frozen moss towards the door across the way, the spitting and hissing sound of the acids cracking the ice and oozing up through the gaps.

Rose hit the door first, pushing it open and stumbling through to the torchlit room beyond, followed by Liane, then Albus, Scorpius and finally Remy.

When Remy rushed passed, Liane checked herself for any signs the acid was still on her clothes, blasting it away with jets of water as she did.

"Oh, no," Albus said with a groan, and Liane looked up, expecting to see some sort of danger, and finally she took in the room.

It was large, square and built of large, square stones, the centre dominated by a pattern of concentric circles of pavers. In the centre of the room stood a plinth, and atop the plinth, hovering in the air, sat a sphere. Around the plinth, equidistant from each other and from the sphere, were four small columns adorned with handwheels.

Across the other side of the room was a door, appearing ordinary but for the lack of a handle, and the presence of four small crystals set into the middle.

"What is this?" Liane asked, stepping forward.

"Some kind of puzzle?" Rose asked.

"You telling me you haven't worked it out yet?" Albus asked. Liane turned to look at him, his fingers held to this bridge of his nose like he was nursing a headache.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Three rooms, in order; magical beasts, magical plants, charmed door...no one?" Albus asked.

"Oh, Merlin," Rose groaned.

"What?" Liane asked.

"The philosopher's stone; it's the defences for the philosopher's stone, just changed up a bit. Instead of a cerberus, it's a graphorn and erklings, instead of devil's snare, it's some kind of acid moss, and now instead of flying keys it's something to do with cranks and gems," Remy explained, catching on to the pattern.

"So this is a charms challenge?" Liane asked, remembering the chapter on the challenge from the Harry Potter biography.

"Sort of; see the first time around it was mostly about critical thinking and problem solving, not raw spellwork; you had to be able to catch the key in the charm room, or solve the riddle of the potions table. I suspect this being a charmed door doesn't mean necessarily that we need to use charms to win," Rose explained. Liane deflated.

"Damn, I was thinking this might be an easy one. Alright, let's see what we have to do," she said, before walking forward. The sphere hovering in the air was covered in finely carved lines, and where each one met there was a small pinprick sized light, looking like stars on a lined sky. Reaching out, Liane touched her fingers to the sphere, and suddenly the pattern on the ball was replicated on the walls, plunging Liane into an endless void dotted with stars.

"Whoa," she breathed.

"What? What are you seeing?" Albus asked. Liane pulled her fingers off the ball and turned around.

"You didn't see any of that?" she asked.

"Any of what?" Remy asked.

Liane turned back to the ball, and put her palm to it. Once more, the room was filled with stars.

"There are little lights all over the walls," Liane said, placing her other hand on the ball. Finding a line that went all the way around, she tried to twist the ball in both hands. Smoothly, and with only a quiet sound of stone grinding against stone, the two halves spun, and the stars spun around Liane.

"It looks like I can move them. Someone try out the cranks," she said, and Scorpius moved over to the closest one. When he touched it, he frowned.

"I don't see anything," he called back.

"Give it a turn," Liane replied. Scorpius tugged at the handwheel, trying to turn it, but it would not move. He shook it, tried to twist it back the other way, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"It doesn't work!" he growled, before smacking the wheel with his hand. When it hit, the wheel plunged down into the column, and there was a rumbling sound that echoed around the room. From one corner, dropping down to reach the floor, appeared a tall, thin mirror, a channel appearing in the ceiling upon which presumably the mirror would move.

Liane looked down at the sphere. One of the little lights, on the side nearest Scorpius, was light up brighter, the light bouncing back from the mirror and into the ball. A channel of light could be seen, revealing the ball to be slightly translucent, travelling through the ball and back out at an oblique angle.

"I think I've worked it out, everyone grab a crank; we need to line up the ball and the mirrors until the lights hit the crystals in the door."

While the others moved to take up positions near the other handwheels, Liane shifted around the sphere until she was able to see both the side facing the door and the door itself. One by one the other mirrors descended into the room, and Liane tried to spin the sphere along a different groove. Sure enough, it slid around again, and the pattern of lights changed.

"Okay, guys, hold on a moment; I need to work out how these lights move; when I have the sphere lined up with the door, we can reposition the mirrors into the right spots," she said, and the other four nodded.

Liane began to study the sphere, looking at the pattern of lines and how they sat relative to one another. When she spotted two lines that intersected each other quite near another intersection, making two dots grouped close together, she began to piece together the idea.

"If I spin it this way...and then this way...it pulls these two around to this side and; look, there, on the door, the left two crystals are faintly lit up," Liane said, pointing to the door.

"I see it, good work," Albus said, giving Liane a thumbs up.

"Right, now to find the other two and get all four into the right...spots…" Liane said, trailing off as she returned her attention to the sphere.

Slowly, Liane twisted the sphere and each time checked what new changes it made to the grouping of intersections. As each turn made multiple grooves turn, it was difficult to predict what the orientation of dots would be when it fell still, but she started to notice a pattern in the turning. Eventually, she found the clustering of four dots together, and with a few more turns the sphere was pointing each star's light at a crystal.

"Okay, the sphere is lit up, let's do the mirrors; Scorpius, begin to turn your crank, stop when I tell you," she called out, and as Scorpius followed her order the mirror began to move around the outside of the room, causing a glittering strobe effect in the centre of the sphere as the mirror coasted over many of the stars. When it found one that led to one of the cluster, Liane called out for Scorpius to stop and for Rose to begin.

One by one the mirrors found their places, and the crystals lit up, until at last all four glowed bright. With a rush of wind, the light disappeared and the door clicked open.

"We're making good time, let's keep moving," Remy said.

"Remy's got a point. Well done, everyone," Liane said with a nod, blinking away the shadows that flickered across her eyes.

"Well done as well, Liane; we've got the transfiguration challenge next," Albus said.

As they moved into the next room, Liane moved closer to Remy.

"You wanna take the lead on this one?" she asked.

"We'll see. You okay?" Remy asked.

"Just a little tired; I've been burning through spells at an alarming rate, and that last challenge took a lot more out of me than it looked," Liane replied.

"Well, let's try and get through the rest without overusing spellwork; if we're right about the nature of the challenge, the next room should be another puzzle. We'll need you in the DADA room," Remy said, ticking the rooms off on their fingers.

"Hmm, yeah, I'm going to need a break," Liane said with a huff.

As the two of them stepped through the doorway, there was a strangled noise from Albus and Scorpius, and as Liane looked up she smiled.

"Well, that answers _that_ ," she said.

The room beyond was cavernous, dwarfing the room the graphorn had been in by ten times or more, and lit by bright lights around the ceiling. The ground sloped away, curving into a mossy field of bioluminescent grass, looking like most of a Quidditch stadium. In fact, the far end of the cavern held a single Quidditch goal, above another door. A ball, one of the red ones that Liane couldn't name, hovered in the air, and there were two broomsticks sitting above the grass at the bottom of the slope. Scattered around the field, unlike a normal Quidditch pitch, were piles of junk, much like the barricades from the qualifiers.

"You boys have this one?" Liane asked, but she needn't have bothered; both Albus and Scorpius were already making beelines for the brooms, stowing their wands up their sleeves.

"I guess we have to walk," Remy said.

"I guess so," Liane replied, and she began to move. Before she'd taken a few steps, however, Liane noticed Rose standing still, frowning.

"What's up?" Liane asked. Rose turned to her.

"Where's the transfiguration element?" she asked.

Liane turned back towards the cavern, her eyes falling on the piles of junk and narrowing.

"Albus, stop!" she yelled, but it was too late; both boys had already grabbed the brooms and were in the process of mounting them.

A rattling echoed around the cavern as the rubble began to shift; bits and pieces of broken furniture and bric a brac rolling and clattering against one another as it rose into the air, forming into a huge winged mass. As the wings formed of tablecloths and discarded clothing unfurled, the head rose into the air; eyes of crystal balls and teeth of broken slate, and a growl like an avalanche.

"Go, go!" Albus yelled at Scorpius, and despite the protestations around them the two boys took off into the air, rotating around one another in a tight circle.

"Liane, move; we need to be ready for them," Rose said, taking off running, and with a heavy sigh Liane followed, Remy beside her.

The wyvern, transfigured from trash, roared and pulled into a glide, snapping its massive jaws at the two flyers. Albus pulled left and low, skidding under the creature, while Scorpius corkscrewed upwards, flashing past the snapping jaws and leading the wyvern away from Albus. As Albus rose towards the ball, however, the wyvern's tail snapped around, and he was forced to barrel roll away from it, pushing him back away. The wyvern, sensing the bluff, turned its head around and tilted its wings to gain a bead on Albus, who pulled away as fast as he could. Clear of both the head and the tail, Scorpius tucked into a tight dive and grabbed the ball as he fell. Pulling up, he threw the ball forward before throwing the nose of his broom to the right, almost falling off as the wyvern's tail flicked right through his path.

Albus, leading the wyvern at full speed towards the wall of the cavern, grabbed his broom in the centre and swung his feet forward. No longer technically 'riding', the broom faltered in the air and he began to fall, but not before he crashed feet first into the wall. Collapsing against it, Albus let gravity draw him down, before he swung his leg back over the broomstick and, the enchantment roaring back to life, sped back towards the wyvern, scooting under it as it tried to stop itself from crashing into the wall as well. Albus passed the ball, too far to grab it and moving too fast to change direction, and so swept out with the back of his hand to bat it towards Scorpius, who grabbed it once more, this time spearing straight for the goal.

As the wyvern caught itself on the wall, it let out a roar and pushed itself back into the air, heading straight for Scorpius. This time Albus rose up high, pulling back as the wyvern ignored him to chase after the ball. As it passed beneath him, he dropped low, matching speed with the creature as it raced after Scorpius and the ball. Closer and closer it inched forward, catching up with the tiny first year on his borrowed broom, as they barrelled towards the goal.

Down below, Liane, Remy and Rose ran, trying to get to the door before the boys managed to open the door. It was not quite the length of a standard Quidditch pitch, approximately one hundred and thirty metres, but it was long enough for Liane, already exhausted, to begin to worry about her condition. As a distance runner, she believed she had better stamina than this, but it was all leaving her in the rush to compete. Taking in a deep breath, Liane focussed on the door ahead, but her concern over her friends' safety kept her looking up.

As the two flyers approached the goal, the wyvern barely a broom's length behind Scorpius, the young Malfoy threw the ball into the air and dove for the door. The wyvern, seeing the ball go too high to possibly reach the goal, broke off its chase to try to find Albus, but it was too late; Albus had already shot forward to grab the ball and put it neatly in the goal. There was a spark as the ball passed through the goal, and the door blew open ahead of them. Scorpius dropped off his broom and hit the ground running, getting through the door just ahead of Rose. Albus, meanwhile, was skewing high into the air, the wyvern turning up to snap at him with its misshapen jaws.

"Albus!" Liane shouted, putting a hand to Remy's shoulder and pushing them towards the door.

"Go, I've got this," Albus replied, nearing the ceiling. Liane followed Remy to the door, watching Albus once again pull the broom out from under himself, cutting his acceleration as he drifted upwards a short way. Rolling in the air, he fell back onto the broom and shot downward, towards the giant maw of the transfigured wyvern. With a flick of his wrists and a roll of his shoulders, Albus turned his dive into a dizzying spiral, and he brushed passed the wyvern so close that to Liane they seemed to touch. Coming toward the ground, the spiral grew wider and wider until he practically stood up on the broom, kicking it out sideways to turn the dive into a rush towards the door. Liane had to jump out of the way as Albus put the nose of the broom into the ground and ran off it, through the door. He landed among the others, at one end of a short hallway.

"Woo!" Albus cried, clamouring forward to hi-five Scorpius, who wore a similarly exuberant expression.

"I can't get over how good you two are at flying," Remy said, breathlessly. Whether from exhaustion or adrenaline, everyone now was breathing heavily.

"Be on guard, we've got three rooms left; DADA, Potions and the Headmistress' challenge," Rose said, despite her smile.

"It was a troll originally, although Harry and Hermione never really fought it," Remy said with a nod, "so I expect it will be something difficult to overcome."

"It better not be; fighting a Graphorn was hard enough," Liane grumbled.

"One way or another, we have to proceed; we're burning time. I have no idea how the Beauxbatons students did it so quickly," Rose replied.

"How long have we been down here?" Remy asked. Rose pulled up a timekeeper spell, and checked it against the time they had gone in.

"About twenty minutes?" she replied.

"Four rooms in twenty minutes, give or take; we're on target, based on the time set by the others. But we have to keep moving," Albus said, and Liane nodded.

"Okay, move on out," she agreed, and they paced towards the door, wands at the ready for whatever was on the other side of it.

As they walked through the door at the far end, they were met with a relatively small room, tiny compared with the field they had just crossed. It was semicircular, but appeared perfectly round due to the fact that the entire far wall was one large mirror.

"Where's the door?" Liane asked.

"Where's the challenge? Is it another puzzle; a 'find the door' sort of thing?" Remy asked.

"For Defence? I'd be surprised," Scorpius replied.

Liane looked at her reflection, seeing the weariness, the acid burns and mud stains on her clothing, and took in a deep breath. It would be the sort of thing Professor Macmillan would do to try and stump her, she figured, setting up something that didn't rely on simple spellwork, but at the same time she couldn't see him tanking the chances of the other schools just to poke fun at her.

While she was lost in thought, Rose let out a gasp.

"What? What happened?" Liane asked.

"The reflections; look at your reflection," Rose said, stepping back and raising her wand.

Liane focussed and saw what Rose was talking about; instead of reflecting her movements, Liane's reflection—indeed all of their reflections—were moving towards the surface of the mirror with fierce expressions. One by one, the reflections stepped forward, their bodies passing through the mirror glass like it was the surface of a vertical pond, and raised their wands.

"Get down," Liane yelled, as all five mirror-duplicated spoke in unison.

" _Incendio_ ," they cast, and the fireballs rippled overhead as the five of them hit the ground.

" _Prismatis_ ," Liane and Rose cast simultaneously, their wands held overhead. The prism shields popped into place above them while Albus, Scorpius and Remy fired back, sending the reflections ducking for cover. Curiously, the reflections, while moving towards the corners of the room, fell into similar patterns, the mirror versions of Liane and Rose bringing up prism shields.

"It's a mirror of opposition," Remy said, firing off a series of pinching hexes to keep their own mirror copy down behind the mirror Rose's shield.

"That's some serious Dark Magic," Albus replied.

"Ehhh," Liane and Scorpius replied, in tandem, their hands waving non-committally.

"It's pretty serious magic, though, however you classify it," Rose said, doubling up her shield as the mirror Scorpius fired a shield-breaker.

"So what do we do?" Scorpius asked, turning to Liane.

"How should I know?" Liane replied.

"You're the leader. Figure it out," Scorpius said, firing a shield-breaker back at his double.

Liane glared, but her wand felt warm in her hand. Looking at it, bathed in the pale blue glow of a raised shield, she felt like the wand was trying to communicate with her.

" _What?_ " she hissed, ignoring the startled looks of the others around her. The wand didn't reply, but her eye caught sight of her duplicate dropping into a maho no geijutsu stance to fire off a powerful breaker. As the spell launched towards her, Liane jumped forward, dismissing her shield as she did. Catching the breaker on the tip of her wand, she didn't spin her wand to dispel it as she'd been taught; instead she twisted her wrist around to redirect the breaker at the other pocket of duplicates. The mirror Rose's shield exploded, launching the duplicate backwards, the mirror Albus stepped up to reinforce their position.

"I've got it," Liane said, renewing her shield and stepping back, "they can duplicate our skills and power, but they can't improvise. Any tactic you've used before is out; we need to do something _new_."

"That's all well and good to say, but how do you be original _on cue_?" Scorpius asked.

"Simple; we do something we've never done, but have seen someone else do. We steal tactics from someone else; and I have one in particular I want to try. Albus, you up for a fight?" Liane asked. Albus nodded, looking nervous, and Liane turned to Scorpius and Remy.

"After this, Rose and I will probably be running on empty; it will be up to you guys to hold the line and clean up after," she said, and before they could ask any questions, Liane turned to Rose.

"Rose, can you cast the Growth charm?" Liane asked.

"Uh, yeah, I could probably pull it off; I doubt I could do much after, though," she replied.

"It's okay, we should be able to stumble through the last two rooms after we're done. I need you to cast the charm on Albus; make him seven or eight feet tall," Liane ordered.

"Liane, when Yvette did that to you, you had a sword and shield, and you were fighting a construct, not wizards. Albus will be exposed if we-" Remy began, but Liane held up a hand.

"It's okay; just be sure to hold the line behind us as we go. I don't know if this will work, but it's the only thing I can think of; if it works, we should be done here in seconds. If it doesn't, well, I'm sorry guys, but this is it. Do you trust me?" Liane asked.

One by one, the other four nodded, and Liane stepped back as Scorpius raised a shield of his own.

"Okay; I've never done this before, so my duplicate can't predict it. You ready?" she asked, and Albus nodded.

"Okay; _protega persona_!" Liane cast, throwing every ounce of effort into the spell. The others eyes widened as they recognised the enchantment; Lion's own, homemade skin shield spell. How and when she'd learnt it, no-one knew, but as Albus' skin glowed a pale purple for a brief moment and Liane collapsed to the ground, they knew that, for now at least, it was working.

Liane felt faint, and as she fell back she could barely see Scorpius covering her. She heard Rose casting the next spell,

" _Engorgio_ ," but it sounded a long way off. A shadow passed overhead as Albus grew, protected by the skin shield, into a version of himself the same size and bulk as Hagrid.

The following few moments passed as a blur; Albus charging the corners, shattering the shields while Remy and Scorpius fired sleep hexes in his wake. The spiralling colours of breaking drill hexes bouncing off Albus' skin, his huge hands closing around wand-hands and tossing the magical duplicates of his friends about, sleep hexes putting them down as they struggled to recover. The fight was over in moments, and the shield spell flickered and died not long after; it had only lasted a minute, and Liane was feeling every second of it.

"What now?" she heard over her head, the voices fuzzy and distant.

"There has to be a way through; find the other door."

"What about-"

"Let her rest a moment; she's earned it."

"And you?"

"I'm fine, just puffed."

Liane put her hands to the floor, trying to push herself up, but her arms had no strength in them.

"Hey, hey, shhh, come on girl, you've got to rest," Remy's voice came appeared in her ear, and Liane looked up to find her head was resting in her friend's lap.

"The mirror-" Liane slurred, the words coming out more like "thurmurrur".

"The mirror, Scorpius, check it out," Rose's voice said off to Liane's left, on the ground as well.

There was a moment of silence and Liane closed her eyes, focussing on her breathing. There was a shout, and a rush of voices she couldn't understand, before a huge pair of arms lifted her into the air. Peering up, she saw a shadowed, massive face that she could only assume was Albus, as he carried her across the room. When they reached the mirror, they stopped a moment, before Albus stepped forward, passing straight through the surface in the same way the duplicates had done. There was a cool, gentle feeling, akin to passing through a waterfall, and then the sound of a door being opened.

"Okay, someone else is going to have to take her now," Albus said, gently lowering Liane to the floor.

"We'll need to move quicker than that; hang on, I have an idea. _Episkey_ ," Scorpius cast, and Liane felt a warm fog descend over her mind. After a second, her vision cleared, and the faint images swirled back into sharp focus. Moving her arm, she found she was suddenly strong enough to push herself upright, where she saw the others gathered by the door.

"Wha-?" Liane murmured, feeling a trickle of drool escape the side of her mouth.

"I didn't know if that would work; it's supposed to be for curing wounds, but it seems to add a small amount of revitalisation as well," Scorpius explained.

"Can you walk?" Rose asked, herself having to lean against the wall to stay upright. Liane pushed herself unsteadily to her feet, leaning against Remy for support.

"Y-yeah, I think...I think I'm okay," Liane huffed, wiping her mouth.

"Only two rooms left to go, you can make it that far?" Scorpius asked.

"So long as there's no more spellcasting, I'm good to go," Liane replied, smiling, giving a weak thumbs up.

"You take point," Rose said, turning to Scorpius, who nodded and headed through the door into the next room, followed by Rose, Remy and Liane together, and finally Albus, who had to crawl on his hands and knees to get through the door.

The room beyond put Liane in mind of the enchanted cloak room from the qualifier challenge; a large, green chamber filled to the brim with various plants. Cascades of flowers, curtains of vines and a canopy of broad leaves filtered the glimmering, enchanted sunlight flickering down from the glass ceiling. And, in the centre of the room, a large, robust copper cauldron, glinting in the sunlight. Across the other side of the room was the doorway, where instead of a door stood a swirling column of white mist.

"Oh. Oh dear," Liane groaned, taking in all the clues.

"Oh no," Albus agreed, coming to the same conclusion.

"You're thinking the mist only allows you through if you've drunk the right kind of potion?" Rose asked, and Liane nodded.

"It's essentially the same problem as the first time this challenge was posed, but the method is far more...brute force. Instead of a logic puzzle, it's testing our potionmaking skills," Liane said, leaning against a tree.

Scorpius, meanwhile, was silent, taking in the whole room.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," he said, "this looks...I don't know, something tells me there's more to it than that."

Liane looked over to Scorpius with raised eyebrows. "Well, lead on," she said, sounding hopeful.

Scorpius nodded and continued across to the cauldron, looking it over, checking for any notes or clues. Finding nothing obvious, he moved to the doorway and gingerly touched the mist with his hand.

"It's warm," he muttered, before stepping into the column. There was a flicker of orange light from within the mist, and Scorpius stepped back out into the room, as though the single step had been turned around mid-action.

"Hmm...I might have an idea. Albus, do you know what schizandra, er, five-flavour berry, looks like?" he asked.

"I do," Remy replied.

"Good, help Albus find it, he's got the size at the moment to reach it. Also look for some ginseng if you can find it," Scorpius ordered.

"There are little tags on each plant saying what they are," Rose said, from where she had stopped at the entrance to look closer at the plants.

"Good, that gives us a better shot. Liane, Rose, I'm also going to need some ginger or lemongrass or gingko; any of those will do. I'll find some featherfew and get the water and heat going."

"What is all this for? It sounds more like a tea than a potion," Liane asked.

"That's almost exactly what it is; all these ingredients are commonly used to treat dizziness, heatstroke and light sensitivity. The mist is warm, bright and spins you around; I'm treating the symptoms of the mist, and relying on the inherent magical properties of the basic brewing methods we've been taught to try and coax a proper potion out of them," Scorpius explained.

"So, you're experimenting?" Rose asked.

"Yes, you could say that, but I'm not using any magical _ingredients_ , so the worst that can happen is that this simply doesn't work. It's not likely to be poisonous or anything. Go on, we're wasting time; the sooner we can test this batch, the closer we are to getting through to the last chamber," Scorpius insisted, and before Rose could answer back Liane nodded.

"Okay, man, you're the boss here. Rose, let's look," she said.

The ingredients, being listed alphabetically leading from the doorway, were not difficult to procure, and by the time they had been retrieved and prepared to Scorpius' directions, the water in the cauldron was already at a rolling boil. Throwing everything together, Scorpius began to stir the mixture with the tip of his wand, and everyone else stepped back and held their breath.

"Okay, who wants to try this out?" he said after a few minutes, when the liquid had turned a dark amber colour.

When no-one said anything Scorpius shrugged, muttering,

"Yeah, I don't blame you." With a flourish of his wand, Scorpius cast in quick succession an " _avis_ " charm to conjure a small bluebird and then a quick " _vera verto_ " to turn it into a water goblet, which he scooped up in his free hand and pulled a draught of his concoction.

"Well, this is either going to work, or be a relaxing lemongrass tea. Either way, that sounds like a win," Scorpius said with a weak smile, before he took a sip from the steaming cup.

"What's it like?" Remy asked.

"Like...winter afternoons at Auntie Daphne's place. I don't feel much different though," Scorpius said, putting the goblet down on the ground beside the cauldron, before straightening up his robes.

"Still, nothing to do but try," he said, before striding confidently into the white mist.


End file.
